#this is much more about the silly stunt i pulled than about my identity or whatever

[hotdogplant1]

I just did the most aro thing ever

So I don't talk a lot on this blog about my personal life, but I just finished a really long journey to reach the overseas university I'm about to start attending. I had to cross the Pacific Ocean to get here, and more importantly, the International Date Line. I started the 24+ hour-long journey on the 13th, so by the time I touched down, a day had passed normally and I had leapfrogged over another by crossing the IDL. What I'm saying is...

I skipped Valentine's Day entirely this year.

[sburbian-sage]

Yeah guy, I read the Thief of Heart post, that's why I was messaging you. I can see how that Thief was being a creep, and between that and all my coplayers thinking I'm deranged, I figured I'd try and get some advice on how to be better.

Real shame then, that your advise is basically "don't feel the way you feel asshole". Not helpful!

The reason I mentioned not respecting my coplayers is because I'm *AWARE* that might be a fucking problem. But I can't help how I feel.

You can tell me I'm not the main character all you want, but how am I supposed to internalize that, when so far, I just keep wining? You say Sburb will punish me for it, but that proves nothing, because the game punishes everybody for everything. I don't actually trust it's sense of moral judgment.

To be fair, most of the time I get messages like the previous one it's from someone who has done 0 introspection whatsoever, and the "go for the throat and call them fundamentally unlikeable" strategy is enough of a psychic shock to get people to fall out of their chair and start thinking. But I will give it a second try.

So when I say "SBURB's usual response to the I JUST CAN'T STOP WINNING attitude is to knock you down a peg", I'm not making a moral statement or that you deserve to stop winning so you eat humble pie to the face. It's a statement of fact, that anytime someone becomes too certain of something, the game pulls the rug out from under them, because it's "dramatically appropriate" and "provides an interesting narrative". A Thief sending a statement like "I don't feel anything when I get one over on an Underling, beating them is the bare minimum" reads identically to a Waste saying "I love being so powerful and outputting so much energy, there is literally no downside to this class". It's also a statement that "Thief wins forever" is a temporary state. Even if Underlings are kinda stupid and it's unsatisfying to outplay them, the game can throw enough of them at you that it still becomes a puzzle. A Thief of Mind can probably render them brainless or rob them of their ability to make optimal decisions, but doing that while 20 Imps try to mob you, an Ogre is throwing boulders, or a Lich is handing out psionic mind-whammys is a bit much. Not to mention the Dersite Agents (who are much more competent and ruthless than your average Carapacian), your Denizen (no more needs be said here), or the many issues the game will just throw at you (BUGS BUGS BUGS). Not to mention, you're not ALWAYS a Thief, right? So I was basically doubting the factual and logistical merits of that claim.

On that note, I don't imagine "I don't respect my coplayers as people and part of my self-actualization revolves around being a jackass to them" is a brainpoison that only kicks in when you become a Thief and it stops happening when you unbecome a Thief, because that would be a bit silly, so I'll dispense with the overtly game-theory frippery and get down to business and engage in Amateur Psychology. My first observation being that you realized you had a shortcoming, messaged me about this vulnerability with the intention of getting help, and when I brushed off any attempt at actually helping in you favor of essentially calling you an emotionally stunted cognitive nonentity, you got rather pissed off. You were probably thinking that hey, that's a really fucking unfair read of your character, right? Sure, you have your faults, but you also have a lot of things going in your favor, and you like to imagine you're an all-around decent person. So the fact that I not only discounted your entire being, but then turned your message (about a shortcoming you have enough humility and self-awareness to acknowledge and want to fix) into a public spectacle, a huge joke at your expense, and a denunciation of your worth as a person, is somewhat bothersome.

I won't continue this format because I think the point has been made, but if I don't have the right to treat you however I want under the reasoning of "I don't respect you because I'm so much better than you (several replays under my belt, huge brain, huger meat, mildly successful pitsblog)", then you should rethink your stance towards your coplayers. That's me attacking the intellectual basis of how you feel, but there's an instinctual/emotional basis here that only you can deconstruct. Namely by socializing with and attempting to take an interest in them. As a baseline, "one-hour meeting once every week, not necessarily in person" is a good strategy for maintaining mental health, camaraderie, and cooperation (in roughly that order), but you can do more. Organize dungeon raids, especially the ones that NEED another player. If you're facing some sort of trouble, you can ask for help, either over a chat client or by doing Soulsian Jolly Cooperation. Active Class =/= doing the entire game by yourself, you just need to fulfill the conditions of your Title within a team dynamic. "You distract him and draw aggro while I sneak around and mess him up" is perfect for Thieves and Rogues. Sidenote, but why do so many people go through MULTIPLE sessions solo, struggling with the difficulty and the loneliness the entire time, when Unbreakable Unions (which literally give you free RP and a unique ability when you do them right) are right there?

But even outside of the game, it's a good idea to Touch Grass and chat, or organize social events sometimes. You don't have to like everybody, and some dudes are spiritually coworkers in the body of a replayer, but there's still value in it. I had a guy who would marathon those old black and white cowboy TV programs, the mildly-to-extremely racist and sexist ones and sometimes Ronald Reagan is in there. It didn't do anything for me, and I was questioning the dude's ability to critically consume media the entire time, but we at least had something we could talk about. Not to mention there was, and I'm not even kidding, one movie with an honest to god Samurai as one of the main characters, decades before the jokes about "samurai and cowboy flicks are the same" meme was a thing. It's called Red Sun, look it up.

The final thing I'll note is that you said that Thieves are about gaining independence, which means stepping on other people's toes. I won't dispute the first part, all Active Classes are some variant of "be really cool and awesome". Thieves take all the rewards and all the power for themselves, Pages are walking combat machines who Doomguy their way through SBURB, Witches are neck-deep in inscrutable mysteries and they literally aren't even allowed to let the other players know how much mystery they're in or what's going on. So being an Active Class is basically the game giving you a license to be "really really cool". But as we all know, the archetype of "cool well-liked guy who's an asshole to everybody else and views coolness or whatever as a zero-sum game where it's not enough for him to win, everyone else has to lose" is oftentimes a bitter and insecure loser who, regardless of whether or not he eventually slips up and loses it all, can never actually enjoy the fruits of his success, because he's too busy making sure nobody else gets to taste his apples. It does not have to be this way. I may be "the smartest motherfucker in the room", but this isn't comparative. If I lose my status as a walking encyclopedia who knows how to put it all into action because somebody else knows a thing or two about the game, or can come up with an ingenious plan, then I never really had it in the first place, I was just the biggest intellectual fish amid a pond of drooling babies. If I can remain a genius even when I roll into a session full of other scholars and prodigies, then your independence and ability to perpetually accumulate can survive integration into a greater whole without having to undercut your contemporaries. Do you understand what I am saying?

[oumakokichi]

Hello!! Since I saw you were enjoying YTTD, what do you think about Sou and possible parallels to be drawn between him and Kokichi? Love your blog!

Oh boy, that’s a pretty great question. I had a feeling when I started YTTD that it was only a matter of time before Sou wound up being my favorite, and I wasn’t proven wrong over the course of the game. There are definitely some similarities between the two of them—and some differences too!

Spoilers for both games under the cut, so be careful when reading!

Well, to start with the similarities: they both lie. Uh, a lot. In fact, lying is sort of the most memorable thing about both of their characters.

Kodaka has stated that Ouma represents ndrv3’s entire theme of lying on multiple occasions, and I don’t think anyone needs any convincing that lying is Ouma’s entire schtick. With Sou, Nankidai has never (as far as I know) said anything about him representing the concept or idea of “lies,” but it’s still pretty evident nonetheless from the narrative.

Where Sara tries to keep the group united and cooperating with each other honestly, Sou undermines her attempts at nearly every opportunity and lies time and time again, both in and out of the main game. Even his theme song emphasizes how much he lies. Vgperson did a great job translating the title in my opinion by making it “Not So, Sou,” and in Japanese the title is “Sou no Uso”—a play on the fact that his name is a rearrangement of the Japanese word for “lie.”

They even have a few physical similarities as well: Sou is physically taller and older, but both of them are fairly scrawny, underweight (this is lampshaded with Sou in Your Turn to Shine by the fact that he can put off dying from starvation for at least one extra turn), and of course, they both wear scarves.

I have actually seen a few people in the DR fandom call Sou “green Komaeda” when playing YTTD for the first time, probably due to his role as the “trickster” character within the main game, but I honestly think it’s much fairer to say he’s similar to Ouma instead. If anything, it’s kind of hard to not see the similarities between the two when going from one game to the other.

Ouma does, after all, go out of his way to antagonize people within trials as well, and both he and Sou are considerably paranoid and mistrustful of others’ intentions. Both of them are all too happy to play the role of the villain even if it means being hated by everyone else, because they want to make it out of their respective killing games alive and they don’t trust anyone who talks openly about “cooperating” and “believing in each other.”

Of course, that’s not to say that the two of them are carbon copies of each other. Sou is similar to Ouma, but he’s definitely not identical. Their key differences are easier to see when you look past their surface-level personas, as well as their motivations for why they do the things they do.

To put it simply, both of them lie, but for almost completely different reasons. It’s true that Ouma in part does lie because of his own paranoia and lack of trust for the rest of the group—but also, Ouma just really, really loves lying. It’s a core part of his character; he states multiple times that he believes having the ability to lie is the same as having free will, and this shows how deeply he resents the idea of “having” to tell the truth, or well, being “forced” to do anything, really.

He also lies to entertain. He says so pretty explicitly in his salmon mode ending, and it’s absolutely not a lie: Ouma is someone who loves being dramatic, over-the-top, and entertaining. He hates being bored, and he hates the idea of boring other people even more.

After playing ndrv3 at least once, it’s really easy to see that deep down he’s just a clown with a love for funny wigs and really dumb pranks, so I wholeheartedly believe that even outside of a killing game, Ouma would still lie all the time (in fact he does, again, in his salmon mode route). It’s just that his lies would lack any malice or hostility to them.

The thing that sets Ouma apart from many other “bastard trickster” characters in fiction is that his love for lies isn’t some of act or façade that he’s putting on. He enjoys it in the same way that a kid enjoys making a prank phone call or putting a whoopee cushion on someone’s chair. Within the constraints of a killing game, it’s absolutely true that Ouma is cold, calculating, and manipulative—but he’s also genuinely childish, fun-loving, and silly. These traits are honestly the reason I love Ouma so much as a character and find him so interesting.

By contrast, Sou lies out of absolute necessity. Knowing that he has a 0% chance of survival only increases his desire to make it out of the game alive all the more, and solidifies his distrust in Sara with her high rate of survival. He lies out of sheer desperation, willing to talk and act like a completely different person from his true self if it means giving himself even the slightest sliver of an opportunity to stay alive.

Even his name (his real name, that is), reflects this. He took on both the name and, to some degree, the persona of the real Sou Hiyori: a first name that is, like I said, an anagram of the word “lie,” and a surname that means “sunny.” By contrast, his actual name, “Shin Tsukimi,” means “truth” and “moon-viewing.” Before the events of YTTD, Shin Tsukimi was an extremely gentle, timid person who was honest and trusting to a fault, further confirmed when we actually see an AI of him in chapter 3 who acts completely different from Sou as we know him.

Sou might put on an act and pretend that he enjoys lying and being a huge bastard in the middle of the main game, but he’s not nearly as good at keeping up the villain façade as Ouma, and his cracks show a lot easier. Multiple characters, particularly Sara, Kanna, and Keiji, call Sou out on his bad acting at various times, and insist that he isn’t nearly as evil or uncaring as he’d like to pretend. This is a sharp change from Ouma, who remained an enigma even after his death and played the part of the ringleader so well that nearly everyone still believed he was a Remnant of Despair until nearly halfway through the chapter 6 trial.

From what we can see of Sou’s personality, both in YTTD and YTTS, he’s not lying because he likes the fun of it all, or because he’s just a kid who loves pranking people deep down. He’s really, truly scared shitless and eaten alive by his own paranoia for pretty much the entirety of YTTD, and while he’s certainly not the trusting or naïve Shin Tsukimi anymore, he nonetheless tends to still show signs of being quiet, timid, and occasionally even grumpy and closed-off from other people.

For example, Sara has multiple opportunities to tease him or attempt to befriend him throughout the game. When you teasingly insist that you’ve “always been close friends” with him during the second half of chapter 2, he looks completely startled and taken aback, even a little horrified at her persistence in wanting to get to know him after all the stunts that he’s pulled. You can also have Sara bother him while he’s working on the laptop after they get rid of Mishima’s AI, to which he responds with more and more irritation. In my opinion, I get the sense that Sou is more used to being the butt of jokes rather than making them, and doesn’t enjoy feeling as though someone’s poking fun at him, even if people like Sara are doing it with good intentions.

While I called them both scrawny earlier, I do want to clarify that I absolutely, unironically think Sou is weaker than Ouma physically too. Ouma isn’t exactly super strong or anything; he complains when lifting the inugami statue with Saihara in chapter 3, and he doesn’t seem to like PE class from some of his dialogue in salmon mode. But it’s really clear that Ouma does hide some of his aces up his sleeve, and that he can punch a hell of a lot harder than he lets on, like in chapter 5 when he counters Momota’s second attempt to punch him.

Meanwhile Sou… Sou struggles to open cabinet doors and probably pickle jars too. He has weaker physical strength than both Kanna, a middle schooler, and Gin, an elementary schooler, in his YTTS stats. I love him to pieces, I think he’s a fantastic character, but it’s just too funny. Sou is not merely scrawny, he’s essentially the biggest, weakest pushover despite being around 20 years old or so and I think that’s great.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the similarities and differences between the two of them! Both of them are absolutely willing to go to extreme lengths in order to try and survive their respective killing games, and they’re both extremely paranoid and distrustful of others. But removed from the killing game, Ouma is pretty clearly someone who aspires to be a clown (both a class clown and a literal, pie-throwing, nose-honking party clown) and to entertain others, while Sou is honestly just an exhausted and extremely grumpy convenience store worker bordering on unemployment who has zero upper body strength and just wants to be left alone.

Thank you for the really fun question, anon! I really love both Sou and Ouma, so I had fun getting to write this meta for them!

[nightshade-minho]

-MoonStorm-

Warnings: superhero!reader, super villain!Hyunjin, blowjob, fingering, unprotected sex, dubious morality etc.

FireSable (Part 2)

You checked the mirror to make sure your mask was secure, turning around to inspect your spandex-covered ass. The radio crackled in the back, and you could hear the news reporter’s voice drone on and on.

“Last night, the Moonsable’s goons struck yet again, causing a number of casualties and starting a fire which devastated two buildings and injured more than 50 people. The city’s vigilante, Firestorm, was missing in action last night. The last reported sighting of the mysterious superhero was a week ago-“

You sighed. That news reporter never managed to pronounce the word ‘sable’ right. Anyhoo.

You crawled out of the window of your apartment, angling your body and turning it around. You scaled the wall, reaching the roof, and proceeding to jump off it, onto the next building. You began making your way to the secret hideout you knew the way to all too well.

The night was thick and foggy, but your vision was enhanced and hence, it wasn’t a problem. About ten minutes later, you stood in front of the shed.

It might have looked like a shed, alright. However, it was hiding a much different complex underneath. You walked over, punching the code onto the discreet pad. The light glowed green and your heart thumped as the door slowly swung upwards, letting you in.

As you stepped in, the floor moved beneath you, and suddenly you were plummeting. However, you were slightly used to this. So, you stuck to the wall until the elevator reached its destination, slowly creaking open.

The vast metallic hallway in front of you had guards lining it. Feeling annoyed, you stepped forward, and they reacted immediately, the closest one swinging a punch at you, which you easily blocked. Sighing, you turned around just in time to kick another one in the face, screaming when you felt a hand pull your hair backwards. You somehow managed to turn around, swinging your knee and hitting the guard in the crotch.

This would usually be the time when some sort of kickass background music would play, if you were in a superhero movie. However this was real life. So you settled for the groans and shouts of pain of the guards around you as you wiped the floor with the rest of them.

You groaned in slight pain. The guy had pulled your hair so hard that a slight ache had settled itself in your head. Sometimes, you contemplated cutting all of your hair off.

You stormed forward, angry, running your hands over a small tear in your suit. You scowled about having to patch that up when you returned home. As you pressed the button on the next door and the light turned green, you let out an annoyed grunt of frustration when you were met with another group of guards.

It was about half an hour later when you finally arrived at the final door, bigger than all the others, clutching your arm in pain. You punched in the same passcode you used at the gate, and the light turned green, hopefully for the last time.

As the doors opened, you were immediately hit with the scent of fresh magnolias.

It was slightly dark inside, but you could just make out a big chair and a figure sitting in it. The wall behind it was covered in screens, playing scenes from the CCTV network.

“Took you long enough. I’ve been watching you for the past forty minutes. I was kind of getting impatient. It was indeed hot to see you kick their asses so easily, though.”

You heard his voice and scoffed, kicking off your boots at the entrance as you sauntered in further. Letting your hand ghost across the wall, you found a light switch, which bathed the room in a little more light than before. It was still pretty dark, but now you could see his handsome face staring at you with a smirk.

You grunted. “I don’t get it. I’ve come here about a million times and each time I’ve got to fight your stupid guards. Don’t you think it’s about time you tell them about us?”

“What, that you come here not to fight me but to fuck me instead? Yeah...I don’t think so, princess.”

“Whatever.”

You walked to him and sat on his lap, your back facing him. He placed both of his hands on your thighs, running them up and down. “You look good in spandex.”

“I know. You know the deal, right, Moonsable?”

“Please, y/n. Call me Hyunjin. We’ve known each for so long, why the formalities?” He used his index fingers to draw his name on your thigh.

“And yeah, I remember. Have sex like we always do, and then I back off and don’t attack any civilians. However, you didn’t come by last week. And leaving me with blue balls is in violation of our contract...so I had to show you what happens. Hence, the little stunt last night.”

You made a sound of disapproval, when suddenly his hand made his way up to your neck, grabbing the zipper and slowly pulling it down, so that your breasts could be exposed. Then his hands made their way down and slowly pulled down your pants. “Get these silly things off.”

You complied, kicking the pants off.

He made a slight choked noise when you settled yourself in his lap, now pantless.

“You-you don’t wear underwear with your suit...?”

“It was a choice limited to today.”

He chuckled. “Well, it’s a great surprise.”

You slipped off of his lap all of a sudden, kneeling on the ground between his thighs. You expectantly looked up at him, and he gave you that signature smirk, pulling down his pants slightly so that his cock could pop out. It was already half hard from you being on his lap.

You took it in your hand, stroking it slightly, watching as it grew harder. You looked up at him. He had his head thrown back, looking ethereal in the dim light.

Not being able to take it anymore, you licked his tip, taking his angry red cock into your mouth with no hesitation. Fuck, he was big. You forced him down until he hit the back of your throat.

“Fuck...you’re really...fucking good at this, huh? You should just do this full time, instead of running off to play hero all the time.”

You didn’t say anything, bobbing your head up and down as you blew him to the best your capability. You felt him twitch in your mouth, and you went faster. But suddenly, his hand was in your hair. He pulled you off him, his dick slipping out of your mouth, smearing pre-cum on your lips.

You look up at him, confused.

“Ah ah ah. Nice try. It’s cute that you think you can make me cum early. I’m sorry to inform you, but the only place I’ll be cumming tonight is inside your tight pussy, baby.”

He pulled you up, settling you on his lap again, his cock in between your thighs. He removed his gloves before putting one of his hands on your boob, stroking your nipple as his other hand slid down to your lower half. He used his fingers to caress your folds, smiling when he felt your wetness.

“Gosh, you’re absolutely dripping.”

Hyunjin’s fingers pushed into your pussy at a very slow rate, causing you to throw your head back onto his shoulder. “H-hyunjinnnn...mmm...”

You moaned as he found your sweet spot, rubbing over it leisurely. “So warm, too. Is it because of the pyrokinesis?” You couldn’t reply, too preoccupied wiith how his fingers felt inside you. Just as you felt your high building, he removed his hand. You were about to complain when he lifted you up, adjusting your pussy so that your slit lined up with his leaking dick.

He pushed in, and your mind exploded with ecstasy. God this felt good. It was so fucking wrong, but it felt amazing. The guilt and pleasure mixed together in your clouded mind.

He thought so too clearly, if his moans were anything to go by. His fingers on your waist lifted you up again, only to slam you back down onto his cock. He continued doing this, spearing you on his length over and over again, forcing you to let out whiny, high pitched moans every time his cock brushed against your g-spot.

It felt so good. Suddenly, he lifted you off his dick completely, flipping you around so you were facing him, and leading his cock back into your tight cunt.

Your mouths found each other. You made out sloppily, a mess of saliva and blinding passion.

He stood up all of a sudden, still inside you. Walking over to the wall, he fucked you against it, and you wanted to cry with pleasure.

“I killed 50 people indirectly yesterday. But it was all worth it, since it got you here.”

“You’re an...an asshole, you know that?”

“Says the ‘hero’ who’s got the supervillain’s cock in her right now.You could turn me in anytime you wanted. You’re the only one who knows my identity, after all.”

“We’ve known each other since college, Hyunjin. You were helpful and kind...one of my closest friends. Where did it all go wrong? When did you become...this homicidal maniac?”

He very briefly slowed down his thrusts, and you felt something change in his eyes. A vulnerability, gone so fast that you almost thought you had imagined it.

“I...there are few things in life I can control. My entire life, I had nothing. I was just a part of the background. My family didn’t really like me. No friends, well, except for you. No...no purpose.”

He slammed into you with a particularly hard thrust, forcing a cry out of you. Looking into your eyes, he bit his lip.

“Call me insane, y/n. But this feels right. For once, I’m the one in control. And if it gets you in my arms as well, then that’s an added bonus.”

You frowned. Your brain was turning into mush with the streaks of pain and pure ecstasy running through you. You were finding it hard to focus on his words...but the little bit that you understood scared you.

He moaned, his grip on you becoming tighter as he went faster. “Fuck...I’m gonna cum. You gonna be my good little cumdumpster, slut?” It was clear that he was trying to shift the mood. Hyunjin was aware of how much you enjoyed degradation.

“Truly worthless aren’t you? Imagine what the press would think. The ‘mysterious heroic vigilante’ filled with the vile, cruel villain’s seed.”

His words triggered something in you...something which turned you on and made you want to cry at the same time. The stroke of honesty behind his words was too profound. However, you were blinded by the pleasure, and you came just as he did.

Your pussy milked his cock of everything its got, your head pressed against the wall, Hyunjin’s lips sliding over your neck as your orgasm hit you hard.

The two of you stayed like that for a while, sweaty bodies pressed against each other.

You were finding it hard to keep your eyes open. Hyunjin noticed, and sighed. He pulled out, carrying you back to his chair and placing you on it. He removed his jacket, draping it over your snoring form.

As he stared at you, his heart clenched with a million emotions, half of which he couldn’t decipher.

What was he doing?

What were you doing?

It was an unusual arrangement, and a very toxic one at that. He was aware of that much.

He watched as you slept. One thing was for sure...he would do anything to keep you by his side, be it good or bad. In the grand scheme of things, this was all that mattered.

You were all that mattered, and he would even change his ways for you...but for now, he let you sleep.

[keyofjetwolf]

Hi would you like some rage about She-Ra season 5?

If the answer is no, please don’t click below. For real. Really for real. I’m not looking to piss in anyone’s Cheerios. I think if you were satisfied (or better!) with the show, that’s fantastic and I envy you. As I have always said, love what you love. My opinion is mine and means precisely nothing beyond that. If you think you may be even a little bummed reading about how someone didn’t like it, skip this post and go on with your day, I promise you’re not missing anything worthwhile.

IN A SIMILAR VEIN: If -- before, during, or after reading -- you feel inclined to argue with me, I am begging you to please not. I cannot begin to tell you how much I don’t want to be argued with on this right now. I’m still extremely disappointed and cranky, and I’m not much in the mood to have a measured, reasoned debate about my feelings. Much as my opinion has no bearing on you, your opinion has no bearing on me, and as I’m giving you the option to opt out, I’d appreciate the same courtesy. If you want to write your own post on your own blog, go nuts! Just please leave me out of it. I PREFER TO BE CRANKY AT TELEVISION SHOWS THAN PEOPLE.

The rest of you, come on down. I don’t promise coherency, but I DO promise a lot of stuff said in all-caps!

---

Hello! Thank you for joining me! We watched the remaining few episodes of She-Ra last night! I hated them! Yaaay!

What did I hate? OH HO HO MANY THINGS FRIENDS MANY THINGS. It’s not just stuff from the final couple of episodes either, I want to clarify. It’s the entire final season, settling on last few episodes like the freshly fallen snow on your front lawn that some frat boys decide to pee their names into. By the time we’d gotten to these last episodes, there was really nothing left for me but confirmation of all the shit I’d come to hate. SO THANKS I GUESS FOR PROVING ME RIGHT

Which isn’t to say there was nothing to enjoy in the final episodes! There was!

5. She-Ra’s Triceps. GET BUFF GIRL. I LOVE how Adora and She-Ra look similar, but very much not identical. Adora’s no slouch when it comes to physical stuff, but they go the extra mile to show us how She-Ra is that much more. HOW RARELY DO YOU GET TO SEE A WOMAN WITH MUSCLES. I’ve been nothing but impressed by the ways the show drew the line between Adora and She-Ra, and however I felt about its handling of other elements, it didn’t let me down here.

4. Sometimes A Family Is A Twink, A Lizard, And Their Imp Baby. I don’t have further commentary on this, and I need none.

3. Welcome Home, Daddy. THIS WAS SO SPECTACULAR. Glimmer had, I would argue, the most realized arc in the story. It was so gratifying to see this as a culmination, not just of her own struggle with her magical power and ability to harness it, but her willingness to do what needs doing, however personally difficult. That was a stumbling point Angelica could never overcome, continually trying to micromanage and protect Glimmer rather than trusting her and recognizing her for the asset she was. Also though, more succinctly: YESSSS BITCH

2. A Shanty! THIS WHOLE SCENE WAS PERFECT NO NOTES. Just the right blend of silly and sincere, a genuine delight as even brainwashed Mermista had had enough of Sea Hawk’s shit, AND so much more clever than it seemed at first glance. THIS IS THE ONLY VALID HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP IN SHE-RA I AM NOT TAKING QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME

1. Shadow Weaver. SHADOW FUCKING WEAVER. What a complicated, fascinating character, bar none the most interesting in the entire series. I do think they pulled their punch right at the very end with her, but I AM capable of remembering I’m watching a kid’s show, so I can only get so disappointed about it. Mostly, she remained a beautifully morally complex character, and she was one of my greatest personal delights from beginning to end*.

(*) Boy did this show have one single solution for mommy issues though.

THAT WAS ABOUT IT. So let’s get to why we’re all really here, and that is MY SCREAMING OH MY GOD WHERE DO I BEGIN

Nah, I know exactly where to begin.

GLIMMER AND BO JESUS MCTRISKET I AM GOING TO EXPLODE AND SHOWER THE UNIVERSE IN THE SHRAPNEL OF MY HATE

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

WHERE DID IT COME FROM

HOW CAN I SHOVE IT BACK IN THE HATEFUL SPEWHOLE THAT SIRED THIS BULLSHIT

WHY WHY IS THIS HERE WHY IS THIS IN MY FACE WHERE MY EYES HAVE TO SEE IT FUCK ME SIDEWAYS THIS IS THE MOST UNNECESSARY SHOEHORNED IN HET ROMANCE FUCK A DOODLE NONSENSE I HAVE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BEAR WITNESS WHAT IS IT DOING IN THIS OTHERWISE EXPONENTIALLY GAY CARTOON

WERE YOU PANDERING TO THE STRAIGHTS

WHY ARE YOU PANDERING TO THE STRAIGHTS I ASSURE YOU WE ARE COVERED BOTH HISTORICALLY AND FICTIONALLY

ALSO NEED I REMIND YOU THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED HETEROSEXUAL PERFECTION

NO MERMISTA NO WE ARE NOT ALL JUST LIKE OKAY WITH THIS

Oh my FUCKSTICKS, I could’ve rolled with so much more that angers/disappoints me about She-Ra’s ending if every single thing I feared about this hadn’t proved true.

AND. IT. WAS. SO. UNNECESSARY.

What exactly did pairing off Glimmer and Bo do for the story? For their characters? THIS IS THE PART THAT’S STABBING ME IN THE DELICATE WEBBING OF MY TOES. Because -- COME WITH ME A MOMENT SWEET ANGELS -- because I was under the impression that, oohhhh, I dunno, FRIENDSHIP WAS A HUGE FUCKING IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PASTEL HELLSCAPE

Is it, She-Ra? IS IT REALLY???? When not one but BOTH of your childhood friendship pairings end in romance? When you close out your five seasons with romantic relationships so painfully and specifically sown across the character landscape like an overzealous gardener turned loose on the world?

You know what you have at the end? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID

THIS ISN’T A BEST FRIENDS SQUAD IT’S A DOUBLE DATE THAT NEVER MERCIFULLY ENDS

And again I ask, Why?? What was it about Glimmer and Bo’s relationship that needed them to become romantic? What was LACKING that this was the solution?

THIS IS WHAT MAKES ME LOSE MY GODDAMN SHITTING MIND I AM SO FUCKING DONE WITH THIS INSIPID MYOPIC TRASHBAG OF A CONCEPT

I believed She-Ra’s entire premise about friendship, I believed it wholeheartedly, and I’m so PISSED that at the close of day, narratively, it swept it all the bin. AND YES, YES IT DID, otherwise, WHY IS IT THERE. It serves no story-based need, it serves no character-based need, it has no NEED at all. So is it meant to be a “reward” to Bo and Glimmer for winning the war, as if their lifelong friendship were not reward enough? Is it meant to show they’ve walked through the flames and emerged with stronger, deeper bonds, because of course a relationship can only go SO deep without fucking. There’s no avenue to Romantic Relationship that doesn’t simultaneously point to something lacking in Platonic Relationship, AND I AM FURY PERSONIFIED

I am so tired of this. I’m SO TIRED of this.

And it didn’t need to be there. They didn’t even TRY to give us a good reason. That may be the part that makes me the angriest. Of COURSE they hook up romantically, of COURSE their platonic love would grow into “more”.

Fuck YOU, She-Ra. I thought you were better than that. YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO BETTER THAN THAT

THEN THERE WAS CATRA

I get it, I guess. I mean, I think it’s shittily written, but I GUESS. Honestly, end of day, I just don’t care about Catra enough to really get too angry about it, particularly when as I’m so fucking incendiary over something much more important to me. But it’s also the show’s greatest creative failure, and even if I HADN’T gotten angrier at other choices, it would’ve still cut its own legs out from under it.

Catra’s “redemption” was weak and sad and did a disservice to her and everyone involved. She started self-centered and shitty, and she ended just as self-centered and shitty, only we’re fine with that now. She learned nothing and changed nothing, but also nobody ever demanded it of her, so I can only lay so much at the character’s feet. The problem is ultimately creative, where I think Noelle Stevenson got lost in her own love of the character, and somewhere along the way forgot that if you take them out that far, you have to be willing to walk them the long road back. Compare to poor Glimmer, for fuck’s sake, whose greatest sin was being desperate enough to be manipulated by the character whose entire fucking DEAL is being THE manipulator. How much shit did she get for that? How long was she punished? Meanwhile Catra becomes THE Big Bad for a while, nearly unravels all of reality in a fit of supreme lesbian angst and self-pity, directly leads to the death of the planet’s ruling monarch who also happens to be GLITTER’S MUM and DIRECT FRIEND TO THE SHOW’S HEROES, but that’s fine, you did one sorta good thing one time and even though it was also wrapped in a thick film of self-pity and a final fuck-you at Adora, all is forgiven!

Speaking of, Adora suffers just as much from stunted growth. From the beginning, her thing was control, unable to free herself from the responsibility of everything and everyone. What did we have at the end? Adora as the only one who could save everything and everyone. Yeah, they kept asking what it was SHE wanted, BUT THEN SHE NEVER ACTUALLY GOT TO CHOOSE. NOT activating the failsafe wasn’t an option for her, and while she wound up not having to die to do it, even that wasn’t her choice in the end, it was Catra’s. (Don’t even get me started on her nth hour “You love me?” fuckery when it wasn’t once for one single second shown to be a question of such life-turning importance.)

All of which could be interesting! That Catra and Adora went through all this, came so far to wind up right where they started? AWESOME. LOVE IT. FUND IT. But really all that happens is nobody minds now that Catra’s a self-involved little shit and tee-hee another Best Friends Squad Mission being bullrushed by Adora within five minutes of ending the last one isn’t that funny?

I can’t even dig much enjoyment out of Adora and Catra as a trope subversion (if one of them was a male, their romantic involvement wouldn’t have even been a QUESTION), because the show lost its fucking mind with romantically pairing everybody off in the final five minutes. WHICH BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO MY PREVIOUS SCREAMING SO I’LL STOP THERE.

There was other stuff, of course. I think it was a TERRIBLE decision to spend the last season with the focus split between the two groups of rebels, and writing half the cast into brainwashing. I think the Nettossa and Spinnerella stuff was wasted and lacked any punch at all because the show for some reason or another couldn’t be bothered to let us spend any time with them to care. The waste of Scorpia and Mermista especially (to people named Jet Wolf who are me) was fucking CRIMINAL. Speaking of Scorpia, wouldn’t her showdown with Bo have been so much more poignant if they’d had really any kind of interaction before that moment to build from? (Sure, it’s Scorpia, so if you’re going to sell the lack of context with anyone it’s her, BUT ALSO.) Hey, remember Huntara? No? NEITHER DID THE SHOW.

All my details aside though, MY MANY MANY MANY DETAILS, what kills/rages me most about She-Ra was how so much potential from the first four seasons was just flushed away. Whether it was the creative team shooting itself in the foot or corporate pressure and rushing from Netflix, I don’t know. I don’t CARE. This is the show I was given, so this is the show I have, and that kind of fall after that kind of potential doesn’t just irritate me, it makes me SAD. I wouldn’t be this disappointed if I didn’t think it could have been -- WAS -- so much more.

Time will tell if I can separate out the final season from how much I loved those that came before it. I like to hope so, because I did love it intensely and loved whenever I got the chance to really dig in and talk about it.

WHATEVER ELSE I SUPPOSE I WILL ALWAYS HAVE THIS

Again please remember that I am not at present looking to argue or debate my feelings and opinions. I get to just be angry and disappointed, as a treat!

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Summary:  Marinette had replayed the video enough times. She'd know Adrien's voice saying those three words anywhere. (Set the same day as the episode Felix.  Reveal Fic.  Rated T for kissing, ignores Chat Blanc mostly because my heart can’t take the angst right now.)

~~~

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I lo—”

Tikki’s tiny butt sat on the video’s pause button, freezing Adrien’s lips in a perfect o.  

“Marinette, you need to get ahold of yourself.”

Marinette was sure her complexion matched her kwami’s as she dropped her face onto her desk.  “I knoooooow.”

She was being ridiculous.  More ridiculous than usual, anyway.  But something about those words did more than just make her stomach flutter—it felt familiar, though it was probably just from her daydreams.  If he’d told her he loved her before, there was no way she’d forget it.

Her thumb instinctively moved to replay the last five seconds again.  Tikki flew into the small space between her and the phone screen, catching the digit between her arms.

“This is an intervention,” she said in her most authoritative voice.  Considering it was still two octaves higher than the average humans, it shouldn’t have had much effect, but Marinette hated disappointing Tikki.  She was her friend, the only one she could be completely honest with.

And Tikki was pretty good about being honest with her, too.  If the kwami thought Marinette needed an intervention, she was probably right.

“Fine.” Marinette spun in her desk chair, intending to pull out some butcher paper and start drafting a pattern in the few hours before patrol tonight.  It wasn’t likely that Hawkmoth would akumatize two people in one day—or four, considering it had been three for the price of one thanks to Felix’s stunt—but Chat had sounded a little desperate when he asked if they could still meet up.  She hoped he hadn’t planned another impromptu date.  She didn’t know if she could handle that after finding out that yet another one of her plans to confess to Adrien had fallen through, this time through no fault of her own.

Would he have said I love you back to her if it weren’t for his cousin’s interference?  They’d gotten so much closer lately, but…

“I’m not good with jokes.  The girl I’m in love with doesn’t like them, either.”

That she didn’t need a recording to replay.  It was embedded in her memory, like a deep splinter she couldn’t dig out.

He might say he loved her, as a friend.  But beyond that?  She was just setting herself up for disaster.

“Marinette?” Tikki asked.  “Do you need some help with the paper?”

She shook her head, almost whacking it on the desk leg as she scrambled for her supply box beneath.  “No, I got it. You can grab the measuring tape, though.”

She was finally going to mock up the pattern for an airy sundress she’d spent the last week sketching out. Nothing would take her mind off of her troubling love life like the single-minded focus of a personal project.

It worked a little too well, though.  Between drafting each piece, cutting the paper, pinning it to the cheap test fabric, cutting the fabric, pinning the pieces to each other—she barely managed to stop herself from starting the actual sewing when Tikki held up her phone.

On top of a group selfie of her, Adrien, Alya, and Nino, the clock showed 9:29.  Patrol started at 9:30

“Ack!  I’m going to be late!”  She jabbed herself at least ten times getting her pins all back in the pincushion.  Everything else could wait, but she didn’t want to swing in and catch one in her foot later.

“Tikki, spots on!”

By the time she swung across town to the Eiffel Tower, her bugphone read 9:35.  Record time, but still late. So where was…?

“Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his lady…”

The familiar tune was more downcast than Marinette was used to.  Sure enough, when she swung up a few crossbars to Chat Noir’s perch, she caught a flash of his forlorn expression before his usual grin took over.

“Hey there, Bugaboo,” his voice chirped as chipper as ever.  Had she been imagining his earlier mood?  Or maybe he’d just been worried she wouldn’t make it.  Silly kitty.  Regardless of whether or not she returned his feelings, she’d vowed to never stand him up again if she could help it.

“Any trouble on the way over?”  He asked.

“Only with myself,” she admitted, rubbing the still-stinging pads of her fingers.  She probably should’ve put some ointment on them before transforming; the suit irritated the little pricks further.  “Civilian me is still as much of a mess as ever.”

She’d hoped that by dropping non-identifying clues on how much she struggled in her daily life, Chat Noir would see through the perfect illusion he had of her and come to his senses.  Honestly, she should’ve known better.  It hadn’t worked the first ten times she’d tried, and now it only brought a wider smile to his face.

(That wasn’t why she did it, of course.  Even if it warmed her more than she wanted to admit, she only had feelings for one green-eyed blond.)

“The only mess you make is a mess of my heart, my lady,” he said with a wink that had her rolling her eyes.

“How do you even come up with those lines?” She asked with a stifled laugh—at how bad it was, not because he was actually funny. “The internet?”

“I’m paw-fended,” he gasped, claws spread in front of his mouth dramatically.  “I’ll have you know that everything I say is a one-hundred-percent Chat Noir original.”

“Of course.  I should’ve known.  Who else could drop that kind of cheese so seriously?”

“Only because I am serious, Bugaboo,” he reminded her.  As if she could forget.  Bantering back and forth with him was so easy; she hoped she wasn’t accidentally leading him on.  He deserved better than that.

He smiled as he bumped his shoulder against hers.  His voice bared his sincerity as he said, “Hate on my puns all you want.  It won’t change the fact that I love you.”

I love you.

Electricity shot up Marinette’s spine.  No.  No, it couldn’t be— 

I love you.

She’d replayed those words at least a hundred times (two hundred and fifty-three, but who was counting?) in the past day.  She’d memorized his exact inflection, the way he spoke from his heart, even if it was about all their friends and not her alone.  She would recognize his voice saying those three words anywhere.

Anywhere.  Including coming from her ridiculous, pun-loving partner.

“Ladybug?”  Chat scooted away from her, his fingertips digging into the backs of his hands.  “I’m sorry, I—I know you don’t feel the same way, you don’t have to—”

“Adrien?”

He nearly toppled off of the tower. Marinette caught him by the shoulder, holding him in place before he could lose his balance again, or run away, or—she didn’t know what he’d do.  She really should’ve thought this through.  They were supposed to keep their identities secret!  It wasn’t his fault, of course; she imagined if he’d called her Marinette while she was in the suit she would’ve had a much worse heart attack— 

“Who—who’s Adrien?”  Chat forced a grin.

“Oh, no.  You’re not getting out of this that easy.”  She fell deeper into Ladybug mode, still not letting her brain process that—that holy crap this was ADRIEN, Adrien who had just confessed his love to her—to her—!

“Ladybug, please, please don’t freak out, I’m sorry.” It was his turn to grip her shoulders as she tried to breathe.  His acidic green eyes were blown wide, the miraculous transformation hiding his normal soft chartreuse irises.  Still, how could she not have noticed?  It was him it was him it was him and she couldn’t unhear it, couldn’t separate his apologetic voice now from their time at the wax museum when she had almost kissed him and no, now that was even doubly embarrassing because it was CHAT, she’d almost kissed CHAT NOIR— 

“I’m not freaking out!  Why would you think I’m freaking out?”

Her eye twitched.  Her heart just about escaped her ribcage at the soft look of concern her partner was giving her.  Oh, this was bad.  This was very, very bad.

“I know you didn’t want to find out, and I… how did you find out?”  He asked hesitantly.  His hand left her shoulder to rub the back of his neck, and she barely restrained herself from tugging it back.  Or better yet, climbing into his lap and hoping he’d enfold her in his arms.

Bad.  Very, very bad.

“I… well, you see—haha look at the time!”  She sprang up and glanced at her obviously-watchless wrist.  “Looks like we’re too late to patrol tonight.  Oops!  Sorry Ad—Chat!  I’ll have to love you—SEE you later!  Bug out!”

“Ladybug!”  He scrambled to his feet, reaching for her arm before she could grab her yo-yo.  He was Chat and he was Adrien and he was touching her and even through both their suits she felt herself burning.  No, no, she could not be weird with her partner.  Not after she’d turned him down over and over and— 

Part of her wanted to cry.  But Chat—Adrien—had already beaten her to it.

“Please, LB.  Please, don’t go. if you have something against Adrien you can tell me, o-or you can not, but please just… don’t leave me.”  He swallowed hard, his voice thick with the tears already pooling around the lip of his mask.  “Not tonight.”

Tonight.  Today.  The anniversary of Adrien’s mother’s disappearance.

The anniversary of Chat’s mother’s disappearance.

“Oh,” she breathed, feeling like the worst partner—the worst friend in the whole world. She pulled him close, shoving all other traitorous feelings and desires aside, and focused on comforting him.  “I’m so sorry, kitty.  I’m not going anywhere, I just—panicked, that’s all.”

He laughed hollowly.  The sound curdled in her stomach, a sick parody of the cheery sound that usually rang from him.  But he had every right to sound that way, after what he’d been through. His mom was gone and she knew his home life was a wreck and he had so many of his father’s expectations dragging on him, and moonlighting as a superhero on top of that— 

How had he ended up being the carefree one out of their duo?

“You panicked because I broke the number one rule.  I gave myself away somehow.”

“No, chaton.  It’s not your fault.”  She rubbed soothing circles into the small of his back, trying to ignore how she could feel the toned muscles through the leather.  (His suit was much worse for her sanity knowing it was Adrien in it.)  “It’s my fault.  One hundred percent definitely my fault.”

He pulled back enough to stare at her, his head tilted sideways like he really was just an overgrown curious kitty, and her transformation from Ladybug into a puddle-bug seemed all too likely.

“I still don’t know how you did it.  Is this one of those ‘lucky charm’ connections only your brilliant mind can make?”

Marinette giggled into his shoulder, because maintaining eye contact was beyond her physical limit right now.  “Chat, the only brilliant thing about me is how brilliantly stupid I’ve been.”

“I’m still not following, my lady.”  His voice was still a little rough, but no longer dripping with desperation.

She kept up the soothing pattern on his back, just in case.

“I… er…”  There was no good way to say, oh, I recognized your voice because I’ve been listening to you tell me you love me all afternoon, only you weren’t even saying it to me and actually I’m a massive creep and you probably don’t want to be friends with me anymore, let alone be my partner and— 

“Shh, shh, breathe.”

—And now he was comforting her again.  It took her back to the first time they’d met—well, the first time Ladybug met Chat Noir.  She’d been so useless, and he’d been so ready to assure her that she could handle it.  From then on she’d somehow begun to take charge, but without that first push—without him—she’d never have gotten here.

And maybe… maybe leaning on him again wouldn’t be so bad.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her forehead resting against his chest.  He held her tight but refrained from any other soothing motions.  Of course he wouldn’t.  She’d brushed off too many of his physically affectionate gestures before.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”  It was a testament to how serious he was that he didn’t slip in a paw-pun there.  Honestly, she wished he had; she could’ve used the laugh right now.  “I trust you.  I always wanted you to be the first to know my identity, anyway.”

“Chat, I have everything to apologize for.”

She could hardly explain why without giving away her own identity, but she knew it was only a matter of time.  She’d rather have this conversation now than after she’d made a fool of herself—scratch that, she was already making a fool of herself, but it could be worse.  She could accidentally call him Chat in class.  She could boop his nose like she sometimes did as Ladybug.  Or someone could catch her doodling their wedding outfits in her notebook. She was really going to have to stop that, or Alya would wonder why she’d suddenly decided she wanted a “ladynoir” themed ensemble.

Great.  Five minutes into finding out Chat was Adrien, and she was still daydreaming about marrying him!  Get a grip, Marinette!  She hadn’t been this bad around Adrien in months, but connecting him with Chat had short-circuited her brain.  

“I’m not… I’m not like this, as myself.”  She pulled back and gestured down to all of her.  “And I don’t know that you’d still like me if you knew.  You never seemed to before.”

“Are you saying I know you?  Civilian you?”

He didn’t sound surprised.  Had she given herself away, too?  Her spastic reaction earlier did scream “Marinette.”  It wasn’t how she’d dreamed of revealing herself to her partner, but since when did her dreams regarding Adrien ever pan out?

“Yes.  You do.”  She hoped her voice sounded more confident than she felt.  Sure, she was thrilled (and confused and mortified) that Adrien was Chat Noir, but would he feel the same about her identity?

“Can I… can I guess who you are?”  Adrien-Noir asked, his voice fragile as glass.  His hands shook against her back. “If you don’t want me to, I get it, really.  But I… I think I know.  There’s no one else you could be.”

She pulled back, her eyebrows drawn in confusion beneath her mask.  “You’re that certain?  I was so—nevermind. I want to hear it.” Explaining how careful she was to mislead him would only confirm his suspicions, if he was even right.  For all she knew, he thought she was some stranger he knew from fencing or one of his other extracurricular activities.

One of his sly Chat-grins spread across his face.  Normally that would have her worried, but it was a relief to fall back into a familiar pattern.  

(Though how close he leaned in to her ear was new.  And was likely to make her burst like fireworks if she so much as breathed.)

“I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Fire spread through every inch of her.  She jolted in Adrien’s arms, cracking her head against his jaw and making him yelp.

“Sorry!  Oh my—are you kayo—okay?”  She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.  Adrien said he loved her!  Marinette her!  And then she probably broke his jaw or something—!

“I’m fine—a-at least I think I am, if I was right?  About you being Marinette?”  He rubbed his jaw and smiled hopefully at her.  Yep, she was definitely going to be a puddle-bug.  He’d be scooping her off the side of the Eiffel Tower in a bucket.

She swallowed the giddy laugh bubbling up in her.  “I bet it would be really embarrassing if you weren’t.”

He laughed and scooped her up in a hug that lifted her feet from the metal beam.  “Marinette!  I knew it!”

Pressed close to him, she barely resisted the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and kiss his lips.  He was Adrien and Chat and him, and he was holding her and he loved her!  

The laugh finally escaped, breathless and smitten, as she laced her fingers behind his neck.

“You did.  Somehow.  I was so careful too—you have no idea how hard it is to split yourself and use that many miraculouses at once.  The illusion was perfect though.”  She frowned as she thought back on their fight with Kwamibuster.  “How did you find out?”

“I asked you first.”  He smirked. It was a face he made all the time, it had no right to be so cute now.  It was a just a curve of his lips, of Adrien’s lips—

“If I kissed you, do you think you’d forget about it?”

She slapped her hands over her mouth.  Had she—had she really said that?  To Adrien!?  

“Actually if you could just forget I said that too—”

“Not a chance, Buginette.”

She hadn’t thought his grin could get any wider, but she’d been wrong.  He held her tight, her toes barely brushing the ground. Still, she could escape if she wanted to.   

(She didn’t want to.)

“Chaaaat…”

“Thanks to Oblivio, I forgot the last time you kissed me.  There’s no way I’m forgetting again.”

She flushed as she remembered the picture Alya had taken of them.  Of course, it made sense now—she must have somehow learned Chat’s identity while they were under Oblivio’s influence.  How long had that fight taken?  Did she have a shorter or longer reveal-to-kiss timeframe this time? 

And then the full force of it hit her.  He wanted to kiss her.

Adrien.  Wanted to kiss.  Her.

She lost what little coherent thought she had left as she dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him to her.  Their lips collided roughly, and she felt him gasp before he melted into her.  

From there, it was all a blur.  Some distant part of her mind might have registered how she ended up with her legs wrapped around his hips, how he stumbled back into a crossbeam, how he held her so tightly she might’ve been crushed outside of the suit.  But all of that was faded against the single-minded desire to drown him in the love and desire and everything that she’d kept bottled tight for the past year.

She had no idea how long it was before he pulled back and breathlessly said her name.  “Marinette.”  Those three syllables in that voice had her losing her mind.  She was about to claim his lips again when he turned his head, making her miss and kiss his cheek.  Well.  That wasn’t so bad, either.  She peppered the side of his face, up to the edge of his mask, and he laughed.

“Marinette.  LB.  You can’t hide behind kisses forever.”

“Watch me.”

A kiss to the shell of his ear.  His nose. The sliver of his neck that wasn’t covered by his suit— she felt his legs wobble a little at that one.

“...I stand corrected.”

She giggled at the completely smitten look on his face.  She’d put that there.  Of course, Chat had looked at Ladybug that way before, but the fact that it was also Adrien beaming at her, knowing she was Marinette… All the puzzle pieces finally fit together, grooves sliding into place just as perfectly as she fit in his arms.

“Two can play at that game, Bugaboo.”

Oh.  Oh.  Sure, they’d practically been making out seconds ago, but the soft kisses he now littered across her jaw somehow felt even more intimate.  Their first kiss had been desperate.  These were slower, like he had all the time in the world—and they did.

He wasn’t going anywhere.  He loved her.

She practically groaned in disappointment when he finally lowered her back to the ground.  

Adrien just laughed.  “I had no idea you were so clingy, Princess.”

“I’m not clingy,” she pouted, stepping back from him to prove it.  “But if you think I am, fine.  See if you get any more kisses.”

Three whole coherent sentences.  Wow. After kissing Adrien, she expected to be a stuttering mess, but she was actually finding it easier to channel her Ladybug confidence.  Maybe it was the fact that for the first time, she knew he was as crazy about her too.

“Hey, hey, I never said that was a bad thing.”  He squeezed her tight again, a slight purr rumbling in his chest before he coughed.  

“I think we all know who’s the clingy one, anyway.”  She said, scratching the spot behind his ear until she coaxed another purr from him.  Bad idea.  She couldn’t spend all her time with her lips locked to his.

“Whatever you say, Marinette.”  His tail curled around her.  “So… as mind-meltingly amazing as kissing you was, I think I still remember a certain question I had.”

How she found out his identity.  Right. This had to be the biggest whiplash for him—her literally turning him down last week just to turn around and practically jump him. (Not that he was complaining, obviously.)

She bit her lip.  Lying to him would be impossible, even if she wanted to.  She’d promised a long time ago that she would never lie to him… except for when she had to hide her identity, but that was because Master Fu would want to reclaim their miraculouses if they revealed themselves.

...Which they just had.  Her gut twisted at that realization, which had been lost in her earlier excitement.  But Fu couldn’t just take their miraculouses, right? He was training her to be the Guardian.  Plus, after their fight with Feast, Marinette hoped he would know better.  

She was Ladybug.  Adrien was Chat Noir.  No one else could replace them—not to Paris, and not each other.  

She could deal with Fu.  But dealing with Adrien knowing just how obsessed she was?  That was a different terror entirely.

“Fine,” she sighed.  “It’s really, really embarrassing though.  You’re… probably going to think I’m a creep, honestly.”

Adrien blinked when she glanced up at him through her eyelashes, not daring to watch him directly.  “I won’t judge you, I paw-mise.”

She dropped her head in her hands and stifled a giggle.  At least they were back to puns.  She never thought she’d be grateful for that, but it eased her nervousness.

“You know how you, uh, sent a video to our class today?  To reply to the videos you never saw?”

“Yeah?  What about it?”

“Well… err…”  She was sure her face was challenging the shade of her suit, but he just blinked innocently.  “I may have… singled out the part… where you said, um…”

He was still waiting patiently.

“I took the part where you said ‘I love you’ and replayed it two hundred and fifty-three times.”

She wanted to shove her fist in her mouth.  She wasn’t going to lie, but she didn’t have to be that honest!

Chat stared.  Blinked.

...And doubled over laughing.

Well, this was it.  At least she’d gotten to kiss him once, right?  Hopefully he could forget this enough for them to still work together, because she’d never forgive herself if she ruined their partnership and Hawkmoth got their miraculouses because of it— 

“You—I can’t believe it.”  His arms had fallen while he laughed, but now he pulled her in again, practically crushing her to his chest.  “And here I thought I was the crazy one.”

“Please kill me,” she groaned.

“Never.”  He said with a kiss to her temple that shot lightning across her skin.  “I’m keeping you forever, Bugaboo.  No takebacks.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.” She paused, searched his eyes for any trace of hesitance.  If anything, he looked giddier than ever.  “You’re not mad?  Or… weirded out?”

“Marinette, I play with action figures of us.  Sometimes they kiss.  I really have no room to talk.”

She gaped up at him.  The image of Adrien making toy versions of themselves kiss—okay, she had to cackle too, because it was too insane to process otherwise. They really were made for each other.

“You do have to promise me one thing, though,” he said, his voice sobering.

“What?” She asked before her brain could start catastrophizing again.

“You have to let me say I love you at least two hundred fifty-four times.  I can’t be beat out by a video of myself.”

He—he was serious.  Right when she was thinking it was impossible to love him any more, he said things like that.

“That’s a lot of times.”

“I guess I’d better get started then, huh?”

She punched his arm lightly and ignored how much she really really wanted to let him do just that. (Maybe with a few more kisses sprinkled between.) 

“Not yet, chaton.  You still have to tell me how you recognized me.”

“Technically I don’t think you finished,” he pointed out, to which she rolled her eyes.

“I’d heard you say ‘I love you’ so many times, I recognized your voice.  That’s all.”

“I would’ve told you I loved you as Adrien a long time ago if it would’ve made you see it.”  He chuckled.  “I wish I had a story like that.  I didn’t know for sure, I just thought… well, Marinette and Ladybug are the two most amazing girls I know, and… I think I hoped it was you more than anything.”

The soft grin on his face threatened to send her melting again.  He’d wanted her to be the girl he loved.  Of course his epiphany had come over something so sweet, rather than her completely embarrassing story.  

“That still doesn’t explain how you saw through me being Multimouse and Ladybug,” she said.  “You really do think with your heart more than your head, don’t you?”

“One of us has to.”  He winked, and she hid a lovestruck smile.  She couldn’t give him the satisfaction of melting at everything he did.  He was still her silly kitty, after all.  “I know it looked impossible, but if anyone could pull off the impossible, it’s you.”

She could pull off the impossible, which right now included resisting the urge to kiss him senseless again.

“You’re the one who’s impossible,” she said with a flick to his bell.  

“And you can pull me off anytime,” he blurted before covering his mouth.  “Uh.”

“Adrien, that doesn’t even make sense,” she said for the second time in the past five minutes.

His face flushed.  “I can’t be at the top of my flirting game all the time.  I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything, to be honest.  The cheesy pick up lines are kind of a coping mechanism.  Not that I’m upset, I’m not!  I’m so, so happy—It’s just—it’s a lot.”

“It is a lot,” she agreed, slipping out of his embrace to sit on the cold metal of the tower.  “Come on, sit with me.  Paris can take care of itself for one night.”

He grinned and plopped down beside her, hesitating only a moment before enfolding her in his arms.

“Thank you.  This means the world to me.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “Today was… well, you know. A year ago today my mom disappeared. I’m doing alright, much better than Father is, but still...”  He slumped against her, his chin resting on her shoulder, their cheeks brushing.  “It’s why I wanted to be with you tonight.  And then everything else—well, it’s better than I could’ve imagined.”

She was afraid it had been too much for him, dealing with their identities at such a sensitive time, but he did look much more relaxed now.  Despite his cousin’s earlier interference, she had managed to help him anyway.  That was the most important thing.

“I’m glad I could help.  I actually tried to tell you in the video Felix deleted… but I love you, Adrien.  And I’ll always be here if you need me.” 

He turned his face so their foreheads rested against each other, filling her vision with his bright green eyes.  The hopeful glow in them could’ve put all of Paris’s lights to shame.

“You love me?”

His breath ghosted over her lips, mingled with her laugh.  She’d said it.  She’d finally said it.

“Of course, minou.  What, did you think I kissed you because we’re just friends?”

“That happened?”  He blinked in fake innocence.  “I don’t know, I think Oblivio might have hit me while you weren’t looking.  You might have to kiss me again.”

She rolled her eyes, but she could only do the impossible for so long.  Their noses bumped as she kissed him long and soft and slow.  Could she ever get used to this?  Each kiss left her soaring higher than the last.

They broke apart giggling and flushed before Chat shyly asked a question.

“Did you mean it when you said you’ll always be here if I need you?  I can be a very needy kitty.”  His voice was all Chat Noir, but his face was the soft, open expression she was used to seeing from Adrien.  

He was worried about that?  But then, there were so few other people in his life who were just there, she realized.  No wonder he had coveted attention from Ladybug for so long.

“Always, Adrien,” she said softly.  “I know I can’t fix everything. Especially about your mom.”  She cupped his face in her hands.  “But being here?  That’s easy.  Never feel bad about needing that.”

“That’s all I want,” he breathed.  “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

He wrapped her in his arms again, and she hugged him back just as tightly.

“Me too, kitty.  Me too.”

[moodysnowflake]

Hello there!

Warning guys, nasty SPOILERS ahead, both of FFVII (+ Remake) and FFVII Crisis Core.

The severity of spoilers is arguable, it depends on the level of involvement you have or you got in the series, so please be aware that what you're stepping onto might be a wildflower lawn as much as a war minefield.

I saw, read and heard a lot of people complaining about Cloud's dancing scene/minigame, grumbling about how:

1. Stupid it was;

2. Degrading it has been;

3. Zack would have been disappointed.

Let's take it in strides, shall we?

1. Stupid? I'd rather say silly, more than stupid. Stupid means doing something that you've no idea how/why you're doing. FFVII never made that a mystery: there was a goofy vibe in the original too, and that was on purpose. You couldn't handle the story otherwise, it would just have been a mess of violence, death, tears and blood. Light moods are needed for you to recuperate, recharge batteries and balance. Otherwise, we all would've ended up like Sephiroth.

Character perspective wise, Cloud might not have understood from the beginning (as much as I love him to the bottom of my essence, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer - that's also why Sephiroth can do what the fluff he wants) what the hell Aerith roped him into, but when he gets the idea he accepts it (in his very Cloud way) and faces it with one of the most determined look he has ever sported. He's willing to let himself be dragged on and about the stage by Andrea, because he knows this is for Tifa, so it doesn't matter if he has to shake is ass in front of a bunch of strangers. He never really cared about his reputation since Crisis Core; he doesn't care about what people think, he's doing it for the woman he loves (shut your trap, he loves her as much as she loves him, he just needs time to untangle himself from his nightmares - and someone smacking him on the head really hard).

Secondly, player perspective wise, is it really such a stupid section? How many did manage to get a perfect score on the very first try? Camera speed, moves and angles pulled some interesting stunts, didn't they? Tricking your depth perception, together with the lights going bananas. Even if they weren't; everything has been coordinated and perfectly synced with the music. If you'd refrained for two seconds from blabbering insults you would have noticed that you could've actually used lights as another cue to help you sync, with the music and Cloud's movements. It's called peripheral vision, you need to expand your focus as much as you can and split it both on the background and the forefront. That gives your brain the capacity to better throw information at you so you can react faster, 'cause you're actively trying to remain perceptive of your surroundings too. Just like in battles.

If that shooting dynamic would have been present during battle, nobody would have survived, not even a doomrat.

2. Talking about degrading. Did Cloud strip naked? Did he have to put on a honeybee outfit? As much as he was very uncomfortable, Andrea (a.k.a. the game) pushed him only up to the limit that still felt secure enough and over which it could have been really perceived as abusive. Andrea could have done that and Cloud would still have obliged (because Tifa) but his objective was not humiliating him. He wanted to play with the dangerous SOLDIER, over which he, paradoxically, even for a tiny bit, had the power and control. Still, he didn't overdo nor overuse it (that is some good representation of a BDSM Dom, btw).

Moreover... I mean... Did you really look at him? Those were not exactly noobs moves, he nailed that too (but that's something I'll talk about next).

About the dresses: are you seriously complaining about them? I admit that the black/white one is not exactly the best (but it's your fault for ditching all Wall Market's quest... you had it coming), and I prefer the blue corset one over the lilac/black silk.

Point is: you have to sneak a guy who's built like a fucking BRICK WALL into Corneo's audition. How in the ever-loving hell are you supposed to do it? The only things playing in Cloud's favor are his facial features and his height: he's the smoothest skin I've ever seen, light jaws and is compact enough not to stand out too much among average-height girls, but that's it. He has shoulders and muscles for days. You have to cover him as much as you can, and how would you do that, if not with a broad gown, puff-sleeves, and a corset? If you're wondering about the chocker/high neck+thick necklace: it covers the Adam's apple, genius... And all the frilly, shiny laces of the lilac dress and the extensions are needed to divert the attention from his neck, clavicles and forearms, otherwise, you'll notice the buff.

That's why he had to look like a Victorian maiden.

Putting him in a catsuit, with latex or leather stretching over every inch of skin, or a sundress, with arms and legs on display... That would have been a bad idea.

Andrea is talking about not being afraid, and that's an awesome message: if you feel comfortable and beautiful, why not doing it? If you're happy, do it. It's not your problem if other people are insecure about themselves and try to pick on you because they're afraid and, most of all, jealous of your confidence, identity, and fortitude. They're just disrespectful and sad, and you should avoid them like the plague.

And again, Cloud doesn't seem that much fazed about it. I think he's more annoyed than anything; having to move in that huge-ass skirt, squeezed in a corset which is not letting you breathe and turn around would make everyone who's not used to it lose their shit. Women or men, regardless, it's a pain either way, especially if you're a fighter and need to move freely. Also, if you notice, the heels he's put in are not that much higher than his combat boots... Sure, they're thinner, but that's why he's not wobbling like a newborn calf. Did you see him swaying through the streets? That was some awesome heel-walking.

What ended me was how he was moving after he woke up. Have you seen how completely ungraceful he is, and at the same time fluidly stands to check on Aerith and doesn't trip over his own feet? In a dress like that, being that agile is shamefully amazing. Then, he swings like he's in the SOLDIER uniform, spine blocked because of the corset, moving his center of gravity too much because of too broad steps, awkwardly bobbing, switching too much weight from feet to feet, getting his stance rigid. That's precious. And hilarious af.

He has to held still as much as he can to try and convey the feeling of being scared, but we know he's just trying really hard not to wreak havoc in the audition room and slaughter everyone.

(Despise lighting, which being warm oriented would have mingled with the blue of his irises and shift them to green, I still believe that in that scene his eyes were going mako. In some millisecond-split moments, they seem to really flash out. That's hella relatable: you're using all your self-control not to cut open the scumbag who's lusting and sniffing and drooling and being awful to your friends. Plus, you're being groped and talked down too? The only thing you can do is look, and boy does he Glare™

(Cloud is not afraid/disgusted of other men touching him, but people seem to forget it. He just doesn't want Corneo to touch him. He doesn't move when Andrea touches his lips nor react when he swings him around in the dress, he doesn't move when Biggs pats him on the head on the pillar (I bet he would give everything to have Zack do that again, just one more time...dammit [I know what happens in the final cutscene of the Remake, but the post below this one explains why I think this]), he doesn't pull away when he grabs his hands, and not only he grabs it back, but grasps with the other one too. [Captain Levi vibes, anyone?])

He didn't have control over his eyes and I firmly think he didn't even intend to; he let them glow on purpose, just because that was the only thing he could unleash and nobody would have noticed.)

Cloud dancing is not stupid, nor offensive. Cloud is a loyal, caring friend, who doesn't have prejudices and is comfortable (as much as he can be) with his sexuality and identity that he's not questioning it nor getting scared (and violent) at the situation.

Do I have to dance and dress like a woman to help my girl? If it's the best way, so be it. She needs my help, I'm not gonna let her down. Gonna be a pain in the ass to fight, but I'll manage. I'm not that insecure of myself that a dress is going to make me have an existential crisis.

If you're a man or a male, and your friend/lover/person you cherish would ever be in a life-threatening situation (and this is, 'cause if they were on their own, they would have died), and the only option would be for you to dance and put on a dress to save them, but you refuse because you have to dance and it's a dress... Just a fucking dress... Well... You're not that decent of a friend, nor human being...

3. So. About Zack. If you think he would've been disappointed/disgusted... Are we talking about the same character? 'Cause I think we're not.

Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st class (previously 2nd), 6 foot and a ladder, black hair, blue eyes, scar on his left jaw. Droll af?

Just because he's a legend, a powerful, passionate and strong-willed person, doesn't mean he couldn't be a quirky dumbass.

The first line said to him in Crisis Core is "Get serious" by Angeal... Angeal who described him to his mother as a PUPPY.

The same guy who jostled his mentor, a fucking SOLDIER 1st class, in front of their boss, when he knew he recommended him.

The same guy who tried to get Aerith on a date after 5 minutes.

The one who grabs a parasol to fight troopers without breaking a sweat.

The one who faked defeat by sixth-grade-Yuffie in Wutai.

The one who dances with the Cactua he summons?

When Angeal discusses the plan and tells him to charge the front gate of Wutai on the first game mission, he's jumping like an over-excited dog.

And, most importantly, the only living being who actually managed to:

- Make Sephiroth care (after Hollander with implanted Jenova cells escapes, he tells Zack Genesis’ copies had been seen in the slums... And with that frigging Knowing™ look, and a smirk, he tells him "Permission to return... Granted", Seph's gentlemanly way to say 'I know you have a girlfriend down there, you should go check on her':

Then Sephiroth says goodbye first

And fucking smiles (Zack wasn’t able to see it ‘cause he was already walking away)

- Yell at him over the phone and live;

- Pull a GENUINE laugh out of him. When they're trying to locate Angeal and Genesis, Sephiroth calls him. The conversation goes as:

S:"You and I are gonna find them [Gen & Angie] before they [Shinra] do, and..."

Z:'And WHAT?!?!' *angry bark, to which Sephirot pulls the phone away*

S:"...Fail to eliminate them"

Z:'For real?!'

S:"[AMUSED HUFF] Yes, for real" *playful mocking of Zack's words*

Okay, that was a huff, BUT STILL... Not even Sephiroth (when he was still a human being...because yes, he was, and a pretty decent one too) was immune to his Puppy Dog Energy. Look. At. That. Smile.

So this is what I think.

The only thing Zack would be disappointed about would've been Cloud not dancing enough.

Heck, he would've jumped on the stage as soon as given the signal and dragged Cloud along, yelling in his face to be heard over the music "This is gonna be great! Let's show them what a SOLDIER can do! We're gonna put all these cute bees to shame!" ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

Then again... If Zack would've been there...if we think about it, a part of Zack was there.

During his childhood and infantry training, I seriously doubt Cloud had any occasion to dance or learn how to do it.

Plus, he couldn't have done it during his 4-years mako-comatose state.

This doesn't leave that many options.

It is very likely that, like his fighting ability, his dancing moves were coming from Zack's memories too.

In a way, we can say that Zack, in the end, was there on stage with him.

Gosh, I'm gonna cry so much... ಥ_ಥ

[gone4neow]

MIGHTY | ⓅⒸⓎ

c h a p t e r t w e l v e

- park chanyeol x oc

- mulan rewrite [very loosely inspired by the disney version]

- warnings : cursing, dark themes, extreme violence

- work count : 2,844

previous chapter or next chapter

——————————————————————————

The next few days consisted of the same routine. The group would wake up in the morning, pack up, and move on to a new location. The soldiers were tired. Their limbs ached and their minds were growing restless. Though they were all trying their best to hang on to the last bit of determination hidden away in their bones. To Eunyeong, there was nothing more inspiring to see the group of men pushing forward together in an attempt to win the war. And so, her soul was lit with an untouchable fire.

The wound on her arm was slowly healing day by day. It still burned, but she was able to push the pain to the back of her mind for the most part. Despite trying her best to assure Baekhyun that she was okay, the man fawned over her like she was inches away from shattering into a million pieces. It was endearing, really, but the woman hated being treated as if she were so fragile.

"Why are you walking so slowly? Your arm was stabbed, not your feet," the general grumbled ahead of the woman. She followed closely behind him, cradling her injured arm close to her torso as they navigated through the forest trees.

"You're the one who suggested I come with you to get some water," the woman retorted. "You could've asked anyone else. Baekhyun has quite fast feet."

"You give him too much credit. The only time he moves quickly is when there's food involved," Chanyeol snickered.

"And Kyungsoo?"

"Someone has to watch over the group when I'm away."

"Then perhaps you should have come to get water on your own," Eunyeong scoffed. Immediately the man in front of her came to a halt. He turned and looked down at the woman just as she crashed into his chest. She looked up at him in surprise, not expecting him to be stopped right in front of her.

"I'm beginning to think you don't appreciate my company," the man hummed with distaste.

"What gave it away?" The woman played along with a small, taunting smile.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know you enjoy my company so much that you even dream about me," the man teased her. The smile on her face fell while she watched the corners of his lips curl.

"I don't dream about you," she breathed out quickly, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "Why would I do that?"

"You don't have to be so embarrassed. I-"

The man was cut off by the sound of something moving in the distance. Both the general and the soldier knelt on the ground instantly. They shared a worried glance before they averted their eyes away to search through the forest for a sign of an intruder. If the situation wasn't so tense the scene might have been funny. The pair were trying their best to hide behind trees that were far too thin to entirely conceal their figures. Their hands rested upon the handles of their weapons as if they were children awaiting a signal to start acting out an imaginative scene.

"I think it's safe, but I'm going to go do a quick scan just to be sure," Chanyeol announced when he grew impatient. "Stay here."

Eunyeong grabbed his wrist before he could completely leave her and pulled him back into a crouch. He looked at her with wide, confused eyes. She avoided his eyes for a few seconds before she finally released a soft sigh and looked at him.

"Can we not split up?" She asked softly. Her cheeks grew a bright shade of pink as embarrassment crept along her skin.

Chanyeol gave the woman a questioning look before suddenly his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Was the woman afraid? Upon the realization, his expression softened. Perhaps getting stabbed had affected her more than he realized. Or maybe the man who she had recognized was someone she feared.

"This is a war. How are you going to fight in a war if you're afraid?" The general asked her, hiding the sympathy he felt for the woman. Her eyes averted away from the man. He felt guilt crawl up his spine when he saw her head lower with shame.

Thunderous footsteps echoing off of the forest floor interrupted the man before he could say anything else. The pair looked up just as a figure emerged from the forest. Before either of them could react, the General was being tackled to the ground. His weapon that he had drawn fumbled out of his hands as he attempted to remove his attacker from his body.

Eunyeong rose to her feet and quickly approached the attacker. Knowing her arm would prove useless, she raised her right leg and gave a forceful kick against the man's side. He released a deep grunt as he fell off of the General and onto the ground. The woman moved quickly, pulling her dagger out and holding against the man's neck before the general could even process what had just happened.

"Howon," the woman called in a low tone. "Why are you doing this?"

"You wouldn't give in. I needed a way to get to you," the man admitted breathlessly.

"What does that even mean?" Eunyeong eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"Don't you get it?" Howon asked as a smile formed on his face. "This war is mine. I started it. I knew your father would be selected. And I knew you'd be silly enough to pull this stunt."

Eunyeong's face scrunched up with revulsion at the revelation. The man sensed her shock and grabbed her wrist before jerking it roughly, sending the weapon in her hands flying across the forest. She released a whimper as pain shot up her hand.

"Don't touch him," the General commanded in a dangerous tone as he watched Howon sit up underneath the woman. Howon ignored the man as he grabbed Eunyeong's other wrist. His fingers dug into her skin like the stingers of the angriest wasps.

"I know it's hard to process, but that's the truth. If you want to see your parents again then you'll do as I say. If you don't, then I'll report you to the authorities. You wouldn't want that, would you?" The man spoke condescendingly towards the woman.

"Hey buddy, I'll end you right here right now if you don't let him go," the General threatened as he pressed the tip of his sword against the man's skull. Howon looked up at the man as if noticing him for the first time.

"You should really mind your own business," Howon snapped. "If I don't return to camp then there's a little letter that will be delivered directly to your father, pretty boy. Do you think I'm foolish enough to believe that you don't know about Eunyeong's true identity?"

Chanyeol paled at the information. He knew the situation he was now in was a possibility, but he hadn't planned for it to arrive so suddenly. Without having a plan to prevent such a catastrophe, he was left with little to no option but to let Howon control the situation. There was nothing in the world that made him feel so enraged. He had let the situation slip right out of his hands. What kind of leader was he?

"What is it t-that you want Howon?" Eunyeong stuttered out as she started to return from her state of shock.

"What I've always wanted: you," the man replied quickly as if he had been waiting for the question his entire life.

"And if I don't believe your story? You have n-no actual proof that you have power or authority over anything and yet you parade around t-the woods like you own the place." Eunyeong voice held fear in it, but her words were still confident. It was a sign that she was ready to fight no matter what. That alone made Chanyeol's chest swell with pride. He looked down at the man staring up at him and smirked. Checkmate.

"Is that what you think?" Howon snickered as he tilted his head while looking back at the woman. The woman hesitated but eventually gave a confident nod. The man beneath her suddenly gave a sharp whistle. Within just a few seconds, several men emerged from the trees and surrounded the trio. Their uniforms belonged to none other than the same enemies that they had been fighting for months. Eunyeong gasped as two of the men plucked her up from the ground. Chanyeol stood helpless as the men pointed their swords at him. Defeated, he lowered his weapon.

Howon rose to his feet in just a few seconds. The smile on his face was both radiant and patronizing. He had gotten them exactly where he wanted them and now there was nothing they could do. His plan was genius. Eunyeong's mind raced as she tried to conjure up an escape plan, but the sinking feeling in her gut told her that there was no out this time.

"So this war... was started by you? All for a woman that holds no admiration for you?" Chanyeol risked questioning with humor in his voice.

"This war was inevitable. It just so happened that the leader of this army gave me an opportunity to achieve my ambitions," Howon responded in a smooth tone.

"What's supposed to happen then? You and I get married and this war ends?" The woman asked with an expression of disgust on her face.

"Well don't look so excited," Howon replied. "Unfortunately this war cannot be stopped by me. I merely instigated it. Now it has to handle itself."

"Then what h-happens next?" She dared question further.

"I have plans for you and me to run off for a while until this mess cools down. Once it does, I'll bring you back to my village and we will be officially wedded. My family's been waiting for the perfect woman to come along to carry out the lineage," the man informed her.

The woman felt her stomach twist at his words. All her life she had wanted to be anything but another typical wife. Now, everything she had worked so hard for was vanishing right before her. Chanyeol watched the woman's face pale. He couldn't even fathom what kind of thoughts must have been going through her mind. Unfortunately, he was well too aware of his thoughts. There had not been a point in his life where he had ever felt so prepared to lose everything he had. Everything that he owned was nothing at that moment. Even his family had become a second thought. His heart and his mind were focused on the woman across from him.

She met his eyes a few seconds after the unsettling feeling had flooded through him. She could see a fire in his eyes that she had never before. At that moment she knew he was about to do something drastic. Her head shook slightly as she tried to stop him, but it was no use.

"Howon," he called with a venomous bite. "You won't be taking her anywhere. If she doesn't want to be with you, then she won't be."

Howon turned to look at the man with raised eyebrows at his tone. "And what exactly will stop me? If you're not aware, you're surrounded. Give it up pretty boy."

Not another word was shared before chaos broke out. The general turned and began to fight against the small army that had arrived with Howon. Eunyeong struggled as the men holding her gripped her tighter and tighter with every passing moment. She yelled out in anger as she watched Chanyeol fight against several men. He moved gracefully. Every attack he made was strategic and well thought out. But even so, there were too many. If he made any little mistake then it was over with for him. She knew the men would kill the General the first chance they got. Knowing his life was on the line evoked desperation from the woman, unlike any desperation she had felt before.

"Howon please - spare his life. I'll go with you! Just don't kill him!" Eunyeong cried out.

After a few more minutes of fighting against the men holding her in place, she finally broke free. Howon watched with parted lips as she stole one of the men's sword. Without hesitation, the blade in her hand sliced through the second man's throat. Howon felt himself grow lightheaded at the sight. He hadn't anticipated war turning the woman into a murderer. How was he supposed to marry someone that could potentially kill him at any given moment?

He stood frozen as he watched the woman and the general work together to deplete his group of men. Of course, he knew the general was no stranger to combat, but he hadn't expected to see such extreme talent. His heartbeat was racing in his chest. He wanted to run, but he couldn't look away from the woman who was becoming painted with the blood of his men. His feet were frozen in place.

When the number of his men had dwindled to almost nothing, he felt his flight kick in. Eunyeong, thankfully, caught sight of the man running before he could get too far ahead. She took off after him in a rush. Their feet thumped loudly against the soft earth beneath them as they ran. Howon's feet weren't confident in what direction they were going and after some time passed, the man tripped and rolled onto the forest floor.

"Oh, Howon..." Eunyeong called out in a pained voice. "What a shame that it's ending like this."

The man looked up at the woman with an expression of terror on his face. He tried crawling backward, hoping that by some miracle he would be able to escape her wrath. Unfortunately for him, she took slow, taunting steps with every move he made.

"Please, Eunyeong, don't do this. We can fix this," the man pleaded with her.

"Howon you can't fix this. You started a war. And now I am going to end it," she told the man with a frown on her face.

"You're going to kill me," the man whispered out in a shaky voice.

"Do I have a choice? We both know you won't rest until you get what you want. But I have some advice for you in regards to your next life - when a woman isn't interested in you, leave her alone," Eunyeong sighed. She clenched her eyes shut and lifted her sword before she brought it down in a rush.

A few minutes later, Eunyeong sat on a rock next to the river while the general crouched down next to the water. The woman watched him closely as he rose to his full height. He shook some water off of his hands before he turned and walked over towards her. Her eyes followed him as he crouched down beside her. Suddenly her heartbeat began to race.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved back there," he scolded her quietly as his large hand reach out and took her arm in his hold. She winced slightly, eyeing the bloody wound on her arm with disgust.

"I wasn't expecting you to be so crazy," she responded with a slight scoff. His eyes met hers for a few seconds before he looked back down at her wound. She watched his face closely as he brought a wet cloth up towards her arm. His eyebrows furrowed as he ran the material over her arm.

"So," the man started. "Your actual name is Eunyeong?"

The woman blinked down at him while her lips parted with surprise. She hated the way her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name rolling off of his tongue. Even more so, she hated that even after everything that had just happened her mind was clouded with such provocative thoughts.

"Yes," she answered a moment of silence passed. The man glanced up at her, his lips curling slightly.

"It suits you," he commented quietly.

"Well I'm, uh, glad you think so. I would certainly hope so. If it didn't then I would have some trouble on my hands wouldn't I?" The woman rambled, her mind going in several different directions at once.

"Are you okay?" The man asked her with concern in her voice.

"Yes!" The woman answered almost too quickly. "It's just that I wasn't expecting this to happen."

"You should always expect the unexpected in war. Though, for someone who was caught off guard you handled the situation pretty well." The man replied absentmindedly as he continued washing the blood away from the woman's wound.

When his eyes snapped up to meet hers again, she forced a small smile upon her face. Perhaps she had handled that situation well, but that's not what she had been referring to. Her teeth dug into her tongue as she forced herself to keep this little secret of hers to herself. Some things were better left unsaid.

——————————————————————————

a / n : hi!! this chapter is shorter than most but it’s packed with a lot of action + a lot of moments between eunyeong and chanyeol so hopefully that makes up for the length! as always, hope everyone enjoys this chapter and the story. xx

[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

Worm 2.09 (part 2) - In which they seem like good people

Sorry, I had been gone for a while.

Let’s continue then!

I nodded, absorbing the information.  It sounded very underwhelming to me, but I was willing to admit I could be underestimating it.

We were discussing Alec’s power last time, and how it sounded silly but it could be really OP in the right hands

“Well,” I said, after a long pause, “I think I pretty much get what everyone can do, then.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but Bitch can turn those dogs into those freakish monsters I saw the other night?”

Sitting a few feet away, Bitch muttered, “They aren’t freakish.”

I think Bitch’s power is the most obvious of the group, so it’s normal it hadn’t been discussed yet.

Lisa answered my question, ignoring her. “Rachel can do it with any dog, actually,” she said, stressing the name, “And no codenames when we’re not in costume, ‘kay?  Get in the habit of using the right name at the right times, and it’s that much harder to slip.”

It was hard to think of Rachel by her real name.  Bitch seemed really fitting given the stunt she had pulled.  I apologized to Lisa, “Sorry.”

Yeah slip-ups concerning secret identities and the like could be baaad

Pfft, I love these little inside-comments Taylor makes, like the bitch thing.

Lisa gave a small nod in response, then told me, “She can use her power on any dog, but only Brutus, Judas and Angelica are trained well enough that they’ll listen to her when they’re pumped up.”

Oh so her power juices up the dogs, but doesn’t make them submit to her control like Taylor’s power does with her bugs. She has to actually train them

Makes sense, as Bitch seems to care for her dogs quite a bit (”They aren’t freakish...”) while Taylor really only uses her bugs as a means to an end, and even feeds some to others.

I really like when the nature of the superpower fits the kind of person that it belongs to, and can be used to explore their personality further.

Ah, so that was it.  “And Brian makes that oily darkness that screws up your hearing.  The Parahumans wiki said it was darkness generation.”

Brian smiled, “I put that into the wiki myself.  It’s not wrong, but it does catch people off guard when they think they know what you can do, and there’s something more to it.”

That is something people would do if superpowers were real, no doubt! Editing the wiki about their own powers, either to bring attention to themselves or to obfuscate the truth. Very nice detail to add.

Lisa added, “It’s not just hearing.  It also cuts off radio signals and dampens the effects of radiation.”

“That’s what her power tells her, anyways.  I haven’t had much chance to test that part of things.  I get by as is,” Brian said.  He turned his hand palm up and created a handful of the darkness.  It was like smoke, but so absolutely black that there was no texture to it.  It was like someone had taken a scalpel to reality and the blackness was what was there when everything else was gone.  I couldn’t even gauge the dimensions of it, unless I looked at it from a different perspective.   Even then, with the way the darkness shifted and billowed like smoke, it was hard to judge the shape.

Brian’s darkness nullifies or weakens wavelengths and senses! That’s amazing! I can see how it could be really really useful.

I love the description of the darkness. It’s absolutely pitch-black, like when you were staring at something bright and then turn all lights out. That darkness so all-consuming you can’t make out dimensions or distances inside of it. Only in this case contained within a single place on his hand.

It remains me of the nothing from The Neverending Story, in that they both feel inherently wrong.

The Nothing was way more unsettling and indescribable though. Especially in the book.

More of it just kept pouring from his hand, climbing upwards to cover the top of the room.  As the light from the windows near the upper edges of the room and the florescent bars on the ceiling was cut off, the room got a great deal darker.

He closed his hand into a fist, and the darkness thinned out and disintegrated into strands and tatters, and the room brightened again.  I looked at the light coming in from the windows and was surprised it wasn’t later.

It can expand and cover the whole room just like that?

Imagine going up against these guys and you suddently get surrounded by this type of dark abyss and completely lose your bearings. That sounds scary as fuck.

“What time is it?”  I asked.

“Nineteen minutes before five,” Lisa said.  She didn’t look at a watch or a clock as she said it, which was unsettling.  It was a reminder that her power was constantly available to her.

Lisa’s power is still by far the most dangerous, with the tactical advantage she represents in any battle. She’s also the most fundamental threat to Taylor’s little undercover plan, easily.

Brian asked me, “Do you have somewhere you need to be?

“Home, I guess,” I admitted, “My dad will wonder where I am.”

I bet Danny could never imagine in a million years the type of situation you are in.

“Call him,” Lisa suggested, “Now that the introductions are over with, you can just hang out for a bit, if you want.”

“We could order pizza,” Alec suggested.  Then when Lisa, Brian and Bitch all made faces, he added, “Or maybe everyone’s sick of pizza and we could order something else.”

“Stick around?” Brian made it a question.

Alec really is the most chill out of all of them.

This all feels so normal, hard to believe we were having a fight just moments ago.

I glanced at Bitch.  She was sitting on the table behind one of the couches and looking like a mess, with a bloody bandage over one ear, blood smeared below her nose and lip, and a bit of green around the gills that suggested she was feeling a little worse for wear.  With her in that state, I didn’t feel particularly threatened.  Staying meant I could work to get things more copacetic and maybe dig for a bit more information.  I’d also missed socializing with people – even if it was under false pretenses with a group that included an apparent sociopath. It had been a sucky day.  Just chilling out sounded good.

Damn Taylor really fucked her up! Maybe even Rachel respects her more now, with that warped view of things she seems to have. Or maybe she is more pissed off, hard to tell, don’t know her enough yet.

Taylor’s clearly looking to socialize with them, but I like her attempt to justify it to herself as part of her undercover mission. Oh boy you’re totally going to end up becoming a member for real

“Okay,” I decided, “Yeah, I think I’d like to.”

“Phone’s in the kitchen if you want to call your dad,” Lisa said.

I looked over my shoulder as I headed across the loft.  The others got settled on the couches, with Alec turning on the TV while Lisa and Brian took a second to clean up.

I found the phone and dialed my dad.

“Hey dad,” I said, when I heard the phone being picked up.

This has the potential to be awkward, painful, sad or any of the three

“Taylor.  Are you alright?”  He sounded worried.  It was unusual, I supposed, my not being home when he got back from work.

“I’m fine, dad.  Is it cool if I hang out with some people tonight?”

There was a pause.

Yeah that’s not normal for her

As an introvert, I imagine it would be jarring if my parents heard I’d be staying for dinner at a stranger’s house unnanounced.

“Taylor, if there’s anyone that’s making you make this call… the bullies or someone else, tell me everything is fine.  If you’re not in trouble, tell me your mother’s full name.”

Oh that is really smart and really great on Danny’s part. You’re a good dad, Danny.

I felt momentarily embarrassed.  Was it so unusual for me to hang out with people?  I knew my dad was just trying to keep me safe, but it was bordering on the ridiculous.

I feel like in a world with supervillains people would be more paranoid in general about these things.

“Annette Rose Hebert,” I told him, “Really dad, it’s cool.”

“You’re really okay?”

My gaze roved over the kitchen, taking in the details, as I gave him my assurances.

“Better than ever.  I kind of made some friends,” I said.

Well that’s kinda true I guess...

My eyes settled on their dining room table.  There was a stack of money, wrapped with a paper band just as the money in the lunchbox had been. Beside the money, plain as day, was the dark gray metal of a handgun.

....Fuck

Well that’s a really effective visual to drive home the reality of the situation she’s in and of the people she’s hanging out with...

My attention caught by the gun, I only barely caught my dad’s question.  “What are they like?”

“They seem like good people,” I lied.

....

That’s such a good ending line. It gave me chills.

What kind of hole are you digging for yourself here with this?

...

Well, I’m hooked.

[audaciis]

gimme ur ship biases for m'hilo and xheh'li

@godswept​┊✧┊they live in my mind rent free┊✧┊ACC.

being an npc oc and very far removed from the main plot of the game, as far as xheh’li is concerned i prefer pairings with other ocs, wol or npc both! I’m still very much open to shipping him with canon npcs, mind you, but it would require very extensive plotting. i just have no notion of who he’d be compatible with jsdnfjksdjk ( it doesn’t help that he’s so difficult to grow close with, too! )

I Have A Whole Wol / Npc List For M’hilo To Make Up For Xheh’li

m’hilo / haurchefant. moon to his sun. fell for them immediately and never recovered since. i tend to not harp about it too much as to not make mutuals who do write haurche feel as if i’m attempting to force a dynamic on them, but whether they are requited or not, m’hilo bears very strong feelings for him. he was a great friend, a better man than him, someone who welcomed him when he was at his lowest and whose bravery made him re-evaluate his own reluctance with shouldering the mantle of hero: losing haurchefant changes m’hilo irremediably, and though the grief of it all makes him touch absolute rock bottom, it also sets in motion a character development that finally has him grow as a person and truly come to accept his responsibilities as the warrior of light. in short: i love them SO much my gods

m’hilo / sidurgu. i have a soft spot for this one, though it’s exclusive to verses where hilo is the wol ( since he only becomes a drk in that case ). they are both stubborn and hotheaded and would drive each other up to a wall- but at the same time as much as they butt heads they are quick to reach a deeper understanding of the other. i also really like the added dynamic of rielle essentially being sid’s adopted daughter in all but name, and how that translates to these two essentially coparenting her njdksndskjnfk... they would be the duo that bickers like an old married couple mid combat, both with tank stance on to assert dominance........ idiots 

m’hilo / yugiri. i have no reason for this one i just love her immensely and think wol / yugiri is criminally underrated and also. m’hilo vc I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass

m’hilo / lue-reeq. not a braincell in sight. this one is inexcusably silly but i joked with a friend about how in the role quests reeq tries so hard to impress the wol into being his friend with fancy dinners and how it would be hilarious if m’hilo misread them as dates...... and then shipping it as a joke turned into Shipping Seriously. my only gripe with it is that there’s no canon indication of lue-reeq’s age, as far as i recall, and while i do hc him to be in his early 20s i fear a future encyclopedia of eorzea might prove me wrong nsdjnfksj

m’hilo / crystal exarch. THIS ONE HAD A ROUGH START, both in meta and not- i initially felt like the exarch deserved better, and while they could definitely work out their issues ( when 5.0 ends it’s all water under the bridge ), i thought that they were individuals too different to be compatible. from a narrative standpoint, there’s also the fact that m’hilo spends a lot of shb being petty and irritated with him for a number of reasons: the yoinking of his friends’ souls, though accidental, caused him no small amount of grief; and when m’hilo’s peculiar echo inevitably rats out the identity of the exarch he is... very, very disappointed that he would keep it from him, to the point of judging him uncaring of their past friendship. it also doesn’t help that hilo is not one that appreciates being thrown in plans he doesn’t know half the details of, and that sort of secrecy is a tool the exarch uses very liberally ( for all the right reasons, because gods know our dear warrior of light would have never allowed him to pull That One Stunt had he known ). still, there was potential there and after a time i found myself growing fond of it... in the end, i guess that the concept of being so different and yet so devoted to one another all the same is exactly their charm point. they have many issues they need to work on, but i know they can both grow from it!

esteem -> m’hilo, one sided. “ i love you more than you will ever know. be well. “ i like to think of esteem as a separate entity from the wol and the original fray. But The Entirety Of That Dynamic Is Supposed To Represent Learning Self Love, you say, to which i reply You Are Right But I Cannot Stop The Brainworms

[greatatmakingmemes]

Sentence Starters - “Wooden Overcoats”, S1 E2: “Flowers for Chapman”

“We’ve had a cancellation!”

“Mr. ________ will be around tomorrow to get his wife back.”

“Slowly, passionately and with subtitles!”

“Run down to the market and buy us the cheapest lilies you can find!”

“Once more it is time for Boggle!”

“That probably sounded more dramatic in your head.”

“We’ve got to find out what ___________ is up to, obstruct his/her/their plans and come up with something of our own.”

“A mouse’s metabolism is much faster than that of a human.”

“What does __________ have that we haven’t?”

“He’s/She’s/They’ve got the spotlight because he/she/they is/are new!”

“Well, I think that’s implicit in the advert.” 

“Strapping a coffin to the back of a mo-ped does lack a certain finesse.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! She hasn’t got any pockets.”

“They’ve got this thing out there called the sun; I don’t think you’d like it.”

“I’m perfectly capable of going outside to do ordinary and live my life like an ordinary person.”

“Now if you need me, I’ll be in the mortuary. Good night!”

“We won’t pull on that particular thread.”

“I heard coughing!”

“Well, off we go!”

“Throughout the journey, I heard her/him/them mutter the odd phrase…”

“I recognize that heavy breathing…!”

“We all thought you was/were dead!”

“I can’t disclose the identity of my newest and most attractive client.”

“Ask him/her/them yourself. He/she/they is/are headed right this way!”

“I didn’t know you had a husband!”

“There’s an astronaut hiding in the begonias!”

“I had appalling allergies until I was thirteen.”

“I used to look like a blonde, electric plasma ball.”

“It’s strange. I’m outside, but I can smell things.”

“Why? Do I smell like a deceased old lady?”

“Caffeine makes my hair turn green.”

“I’m great at mechanics.”

“That was a silly thing to say.”

“For God’s sake, ___________, switch it off!”

“By an encouraging coincidence, his sister was dead!”

“You should probably change your clothes.”

“You flooded our home with fluid and corpses!”

“Well, chalk one up to experience.”

“Here’s your sodding flowers!”

“Somebody’s cat has had twins! Have you ever heard of twins before?”

“I like to sound busy, that’s all.”

“We’re valued for our tradition and service.”

“Consider this a warning.”

“An auspicious afternoon, don’t you think?”

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“Today is the day before tomorrow. And when tomorrow becomes today and everything changes forever and ever- look out for it.”

“About your trousers… they’ve melted.”

“When business is conducted, one must wear the gray, flannel, standard business shorts.”

“He/She/They looks/look like a dog chasing rabbits.”

“Sleep is the half-brother of death.”

“Want a bagel?”

“We’re not on the front page.”

“It’s the least I could do for such a welcoming community.”

“A local man also has a twin cat.”

“I’m going to jump and you can’t stop me!”

“Publicity stunts, promotions… has the man no shame?”

“You can’t sabotage a funeral!”

“I’m great at arson.”

“I wasn’t eager to engage in sabotage.”

“There was also a jazz band.”

“Only an amateur leaves a coffin unguarded.”

“Is that a mouse in your top pocket?”

“Do you think I ought to talk about God in this one or leave it sort of vague?”

“Apparently people can predict the weather now!”

“In many ways, I’m already dead, but I don’t like to talk about it.”

“I’ve never been so pleased to be certain.”

“If I could have arranged to have his trousers fall down on cue, I’d have done it.”

“Well done, _________, old boy, come and see the place that I’ve probably made for you.”

“I actually don’t think I can watch this.”

“I am a war criminal????”

“I don’t mind satire in the right place -!”

“You’re choking him with the strap!”

“I need plausible deniability!”

“He’s/She’s/They’re strangling the newspaperman!”

“I’m sorry I doubted you back there, __________.”

“No, let’s give him/her/them a good kick.”

“Stop pinching me!”

“Some say it must have been karma.”

“He/She/They does/do photograph very well.” 

“Sheer, naked panic does something wonderful to his/her/their eyes.”

[pentakillmaven]

The Nose Knows, Chapter 1 (NaNoWriMo 2018)

Science has shown that the sense of smell is a powerful tool, able to evoke strong memories in people. When Marinette and Adrien realize that their respective partners' Kwami have very specific affiliated scents, what will it mean for their secret identities?

Fic Rating: T/M for adult situations in future chapters (All characters 18+)

Chapter Rating: T

Chapter Warnings: Gratuitous use of French, Spoilers from “Style Queen” and "Frozer"

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 1

"Honey, can you reach that jar of capers for me?" Sabine asked sweetly.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng smiled at her mother, reaching up to grab the jar of capers off the top shelf and place it in her mother's basket. At eighteen years old, Marinette was nearly as tall as her father, though she had definitely inherited some of the Cheng family build as well. Sabine liked to bring her daughter along when she went grocery shopping to give the two of them a chance to spend time together girl-to-girl, and also because the younger Dupain-Cheng could reach items on the highest shelves of the various specialty shops they visited on Saturday afternoons. "What's next on the list?" Marinette asked.

Consulting her shopping list, Sabine checked off the capers before moving down to the next item. "We need to go get the cheese for the gratin," she said. "Let's go ahead and take these up to the register and we can head to the fromagerie."

"Sounds good! Let me carry this for you, Maman, it looks heavy." Before Sabine could protest, Marinette took the basket from her hands, supporting it with both hands to carry the groceries toward the register. Thankfully, the small grocer wasn't super busy; it seemed to be a lull between waves, so they were able to get checked out quickly. Sabine pulled the bills from her billfold to pay the cashier while another associate packed their purchases in the cloth bags Sabine had placed in the bottom of the basket when they came into the store. Marinette picked up the bags and carried them out to the car, placing them in the trunk before pulling out the keys to start the car. "Thanks again for letting me drive, Maman!" Marinette said to her mother as they pulled out of their parking spot.

"Of course, Marinette. I know you need the practice before you take your exam." Sabine couldn't believe how her little girl was growing up into a young adult. It seemed like only yesterday little Marinette was speaking her first words and toddling around the bakery. Now she's in her last year of school, learning how to drive, and just generally getting ready to spread her wings and leave the nest for university at the end of the summer.

Marinette was a careful driver, Sabine noted, making sure to follow all the traffic signals and keep her eyes on the road despite the sound of her cell phone chiming from her purse. It was only a couple of miles to the cheese shop, but with busy Paris traffic and lack of parking space, it took them about ten minutes to make it there. Once Marinette had perfected her parallel parking job, Sabine stepped out of the car, grabbing an empty bag from the back seat to hold their purchases. Marinette was right behind her, pulling her cell phone out of her purse to check the message she had received. "Maman, I know you and Papa have that dinner party tonight, but Alya wants to know if I can come with her and the girls to see that new romance movie that just came out. Is that okay?"

"Of course, Marinette; I didn't expect you would want to hang around with stuffy old Mme. Mazet and her husband anyway. You go have fun, and tell the girls hello for me."

Marinette smiled and hugged her mother from the side in thanks. The dinner party tonight was one that Marinette's parents hosted once every few months as sort of a neighborhood get together, to give those who lived on their street a chance to mingle and discuss the goings-on in the neighborhood. Marinette had attended several in her time, but it was always awkward to hear people talking about Ladybug as if she wasn't in the room with them. Granted, they didn't know that she was in the room with them, but somehow that just made it worse, especially since some of the older residents didn't particularly approve of a young lady in skintight spandex running around pulling dangerous stunts. She couldn't defend Ladybug too vehemently, lest someone get suspicious of her reasons for supporting the super-heroine.

When the two women stepped into the fromagerie, Marinette was instantly assaulted by the unmistakable scent of must and aged cheese. Just inside the door, a shop associate was handing out free samples of product. "Would you like to try a sample of our finest Camembert, mesdames?" he asked, gesturing to thin slices of the cheese that had been laid out on small pieces of baguette.

"Oh, thank you! That sounds wonderful--I was just thinking that I could use a bite to hold me over until dinner," Sabine said, taking one of the slices. Marinette reached over to take one as well, but before she could bring the slice of the stinky cheese to her mouth to taste it, her mind was transported elsewhere...

"Master Fu!" Marinette cried out as she ran into the elderly Chinese man's apartment. "Chat Noir has disappeared! I can't defeat Style Queen without him, and the Lucky Charm told me to come here!"

Master Fu was sitting on the floor facing away from the door when he spoke. "Don't worry; Chat Noir is fine."

"Well, what's he doing then? Why isn't he helping me?" Marinette asked as she crossed the room, approaching Master Fu.

"He's just lost his Miraculous." Master Fu glanced at Marinette over his shoulder, who stumbled back in shock.

"What?! He's just lost his Miraculous?" Marinette clutched her head in her hands. "This is a disaster!"

"That tomcat's really got himself stuck up in a tree this time." A small, black Kwami said, lying on the floor in front of a plate of Camembert. The slices were nearly as big as his head, but he swallowed one down with ease, his mouth opening wide to accommodate the size of the piece of cheese.

"Oh--let me guess. You're Chat Noir's Kwami?" Marinette asked, pointing at the small spirit. He flew into the air, approaching the teenage girl, the smell of stinky feet and ammonia from the cheese growing stronger as he approached.

"Yes! He tends to copy me a bit too much; yet lately, he's been doing really silly things! In five thousand years, I've never experienced such an irresponsible Miraculous owner! As a result, he's lost his ring and it's just me that's able to help you out..."

"Marinette?" The teenage girl snapped out of her reverie, looking over at her mother, whose face showed clear concern for her daughter's lack of attention. "Are you alright? You weren't answering me."

"O-oh, sorry, Maman," Marinette said, an embarrassed smile crossing her face as she rubbed the back of her head. "Just lost in thought. Are you ready to get the cheeses you need?"

"I've actually already gotten one of the staff to get them for me. I'm just waiting for her to bring them out."

"That’s great! And this is the last stop for today, right?" Sabine nodded in the affirmative, giving her daughter a smile. "I’m glad to hear that. I think the movie starts in a couple of hours, and we were going to go get something to eat first."

"Do you want me to drop you off at Alya's house, then?" Sabine asked. "It is on the way back to the bakery."

Marinette shook her head no. "I want a bit more driving practice first. I'll get us home and then walk from there. I need to grab a couple of things from the house anyway."

"All right." Before Sabine could say more, the clerk came forward with a handful of wrapped packages. Sabine handed her a few bills to cover the cost, and once she had her change, she and Marinette headed out to the car to make their way back home.

When they made it back to the bakery, Marinette rushed up to her bedroom, letting Tikki out of her purse as soon as she had the trapdoor shut. "Tikki, something weird happened at the store today," she said, the concern clear in her voice and on her face. "I just got completely swept up in a memory from years ago, all because of a little Camembert."

Tikki gave Marinette a reassuring smile, patting her on the hand gently. "It's okay, Marinette! It's just part of being a Miraculous holder. As you get older and gain more experience, parts of your power have a tendency to bleed out into your civilian life. Stronger senses, especially sight and smell, are common with Miraculous holders because it makes detecting danger a lot easier. And there has always been an affiliation between smell and memory."

"So you're saying my sense of smell is stronger because I'm a Miraculous holder? Why couldn't I have gotten better balance?" Marinette whined. "At least then I wouldn't be such a klutz all the time." Marinette had hoped that she would get more graceful as she got older and grew into her more adult body, but she was still the same butterfingers and trip-over-nothing girl she had been since collège. It was just that now there was a lot more of her to trip, since her growth spurt the summer she turned 15 that left her one of the tallest girls in her year.

"Don't worry, Marinette," Tikki said gently, trying to soothe her holder's frustration. "This is a good thing. It means you are becoming a better hero!"

"Yeah, I guess so… thanks, Tikki." Marinette gave her Kwami a weak smile. Before she could say more, her phone chirped, a text message from Alya catching her attention. "Oh crap! Adrien is going to be at the movies!" She jumped up from her bed, feverishly running to her closet and starting to tear through it, trying to find something better to wear than her usual Saturday grocery shopping clothes.

Across town, Adrien Agreste paced back and forth across his bedroom, muttering to himself while his Kwami sat on his computer desk with a plate of cheese. "I'm telling you, Adrien, you're gonna wear a hole in your floor if you keep doing that," Plagg said between bites.

"Thanks so much for the advice, Plagg," Adrien deadpanned. "This is serious, though. I don't know what to do… I still love Ladybug, but…"

"Who is it now? That sword girl again, or someone else?" Plagg asked. He could never keep straight who Adrien was crushing on, other than Ladybug, of course.

Adrien's cheeks went a bit pink as he admitted, "It's Marinette… you know, the girl with the pigtails from school?"

"Oh yeah, the bakery girl, right? I like her. She always brings you food. And since you're always on a diet…" Plagg grinned and patted his belly. "Croissants may not be as good as my beloved Camembert, but they're not bad."

"What are you, 90 percent stomach?" Adrien asked, not for the first time. "Anyway, yes, it's her. I know we've known each other for a while, but recently it feels like… I don't know how to describe it. When I see her, I feel the same way I do when I see My Lady."

"Kind of queasy in your stomach?" Plagg asked.

"Yeah, exactly!"

"Hot and flushed? Hands tingling? Can't think straight?"

"How did you know?"

"Sounds like bad cheese to me." Plagg polished off the last piece of cheese on the plate before letting out a massive burp. "You should really go get that checked out."

"Plagg! I'm being serious here!" Adrien huffed as he fell onto his bed spread-eagle, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do. I told Kagami years ago that I wasn't giving up on Ladybug, and I don't want to, but… I really like Marinette, too, and it doesn't feel right trying to date her as Adrien when she only knows half of me."

"If you're looking at it that way, isn't it the same way with Ladybug? She only knows you as Chat Noir; she doesn't know you're Adrien Agreste."

"Yeah, but… Ladybug is the one who doesn't want us revealing our civilian identities. If she said it was okay, I'd tell her who I am in a heartbeat." Adrien rolled over onto his side, staring at his computer screen, which had a picture of Ladybug from Alya's blog as the background. "But I'm willing to wait forever if that's what it takes…" Adrien took a deep breath to let out a sigh, but he wrinkled his nose as he was hit with the sudden odor of his backpack. "Ugh, Plagg, you have got to stop hiding Camembert in my school bag. People are going to notice the smell." He sat up, reaching over the edge of his bed to pick up his bag so he could start cleaning it out… but it wasn't there.

He glanced around the room in confusion, eyes darting from his desk to the bench of his piano, all the way to the doorway before he spotted his bag at the base of his skate ramp. "What the hell?" He stepped over, picking up the bag and giving it a delicate sniff. "Yep, definitely what I was smelling… but how did I smell it from all the way across the room?" he wondered aloud.

Plagg zipped over and phased through the material of the bag, fighting with the zipper from inside until he'd made a large enough hole to pull the hidden cache of cheese through. "For your information, I wasn't hiding it, I was aging it. In your gym socks. Gives it more flavor." Adrien wrinkled his nose again and gagged a little as Plagg popped the slice of cheese in his mouth.

"Have I told you that you're disgusting?" the teen muttered.

"I know; it's a gift," Plagg replied flippantly. "Anyway, I'm stuffed. I'm going to take a nap."

"Wait a minute! You didn't answer my question. What's going on with my sense of smell?"

"Oh, that! Yeah, it's a Miraculous holder thing. You're becoming more attuned to your powers or something. Basically your senses are getting stronger."

"So, what does that mean? I'm just going to be in smell overload from now on?"

"Oh, no, not everything. It's mostly going to be Kwami and Akuma-related stuff. You'll probably notice Ladybug or the other Miraculous holders' smells more, as well as being more aware of them even without having to see them."

"Okay, that's actually really cool. So does that apply to Ladybug, Réna Rouge and Carapace too?"

"Yes to Ladybug, but probably not as much for the other two; just because they haven't been Miraculous holders as long or used their powers as much."

"That makes sense, I guess. I'll have to talk to Ladybug about it the next time we patrol together."

"Mm." Plagg flew up to look Adrien in the eyes before reaching out to poke him in the forehead. "Don't you have something to do before that, though? I distinctly remember you getting a text message from your DJ friend…"

"Oh, shit! I completely forgot!" Adrien rushed over to his closet, flipping through his extensive wardrobe. "What should I wear? He said Alya invited Marinette... "

"I doubt she will care what you're wearing," Plagg called out. Under his breath, he added, "In fact, she'd probably prefer you wear nothing at all."

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing! Just lamenting the fact that I ate all my cheese."

"You know, if you keep this up I'm going to start calling you 'pig' instead of Plagg," Adrien teased. He ended up just sticking with his usual outfit, quickly running a brush through his hair and pulling his shoes on before he held open his shirt for his Kwami to hide inside.

"Try it, and see if I respond next time an Akuma shows up," Plagg replied; despite his threatening words, his voice didn't carry any real heat.

"All right, all right, I'll get you some more Camembert after the movie. Think you can handle waiting that long?" Adrien asked.

"I suppose… as long as I can have some popcorn at the movie."

"Deal."

Sooooooo, this year for NaNoWriMo I was inspired by the end of season 2 of Miraculous Ladybug (especially the episode “Style Queen”) to write my very first ML fanfic!

I’ll be posting chapters as I finish them, so they are un-betaed. When I finish the whole fic (and when November is over) I’ll go back and edit and post to AO3. Please let me know what you think!

[lanthimo]

I wrote this, like, in 20 minutes for this comic by @chataclysmes (because it’s so cute and amazing!) English isn’t my first language and this fic is a huge mess but whateva

Word Count: 1787

Kagami was mindlessly scrolling through her phone as she waited for Adrien to join her for lunch. They were spending most of their lunch times together since Kagami was transferred to their school and even Nino joined to them sometimes. Kagami liked the other boy more than she expected to, considering how different they were. However, Nino Lahiffe was a really nice guy and Kagami could understand why Adrien was so enamoured with the young DJ. It was clear how much Adrien loved Nino, considering the dark-skinned boy was almost all Adrien loved to talk about. Also, they, Nino and Kagami, had one common interest: Chat Noir. Nino was totally gay for the black clad hero and even his girlfriend, Alya, was encouraging her boyfriend’s crush. Nino would show her silly Chat Noir memes during lunch time and Adrien would sigh really loud, fully focusing on his lunch and completely avoiding them.  

“Hello!” Kagami looked up from her phone and saw Nino’s girlfriend, Alya Césaire, standing in front of her table with a way too innocent looking smile on her face. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was standing behind her with a frustrated expression. Kagami was surprised by how nice Marinette was. Kagami noticed her huge crush on the blond boy right away after meeting her. She was confused at first, because like many other people, she assumed they were dating and after seeing how depressed Adrien had been lately, she thought Marinette broke her friend’s heart. She was also expecting another Chloé incident where she had to pull off her ‘Ice Queen’ act to scare off the blonde girl after spending so much time with Adrien and automatically making Chloé jealous. The difference was, of course, Marinette’s feelings were genuine. She really loved Adrien and it was so obvious that Adrien’s blindness even annoyed Kagami at some point. On the other hand, Chloé's clinginess was due to her fear of losing her best and most important friend. She couldn’t understand that Adrien having other friends didn’t mean he didn’t care about her anymore. Chloé was a very possessive person clearly and Adrien defended her by saying that her mother leaving her at a very young age made her that way. She respected Adrien’s opinion and his friendship with Chloé but she was still not a big fan of the blond girl.  

“Hello?” She answered, not coldly but more like discreetly. Alya pushed her glasses up her nose and Marinette made a weak sound of frustration. Now, Kagami was curious.  

“I have been checking my blog and I noticed that, lately, you have been really active on my blog.” Alya said with a bright smile on her pretty face. 

“Yes, you are doing a great job with that blog.” She appreciated Alya’s boldness, her courage and hardwork.  

“Thanks!” Alya looked at Marinette and grinned as the thin girl avoided her gaze, her bright blue eyes running around the cafeteria. Kagami raised an eyebrow at their strange behaviours. “I was wondering... Since you seem like a huge fan of Chat Noir...”

“He is cute.” She claimed with a small smile on her face. She wasn’t one to hide her attraction or affection. It was something that made most people admire her.  

“Yeah, especially in that leather suit.” Alya winked at her playfully as both girls giggled. Marinette groaned again and hid her face behind her delicate hands, cheeks reddening slightly. “So, have you thought about the boy behind the mask?”

“What?” Kagami was surprised by Alya’s question.  

“You know,” Alya bit her lower lip and leaned forward as she was sharing a huge secret, “his secret identity.”

“Oh.” Because Kagami thought about it once. But it wasn’t like she was curious about who was behind the mask. It was more like, wondering who was brave enough to put their lives in danger in order to protect complete strangers every day. Also, who was crazy enough to pull reckless stunts like that.  “I don’t know.”

“Because I have a theory.” Alya added quickly, her excitement was clear on her face. She pulled one of the chairs and sat down next to Kagami while Marinette was still standing behind her shyly. “Do you want to hear it?” Kagami shrugged.

“Sure.”

“Alya, why?” Marinette whined weakly. Alya waved her off with a hand gesture and pulled her phone out from her pocket. Kagami eyed her phone curiously as Alya opened the gallery.

“Look at this photo.” She handed her phone to Kagami. Dark haired girl held the phone in her hand and looked at the screen curiously.  

“It’s a photo of Adrien?” She said with a puzzled expression. Alya smirked at her, reaching forward to swipe the photo.  

“And now?” It was still a photo of Adrien. The same photo actually. Except Alya drew cat ears, black suit, a bell and belt tail on him with the help of a paint app on her phone. It was obvious that she put so much work into this ‘masterpiece’. Kagami looked at the screen for a minute, processing slowly. She raised her head to look at Alya when she spotted her friend who she was waiting for in the first place.

Adrien entered the cafeteria alongside with Nino and, surprisingly, Chloé. Blonde girl was rolling her eyes at something Nino said and mumbled something that clearly didn’t annoy Nino that much. He laughed instead. Adrien had a happy look on his face. He loved it when all his friends got along well. He hated the drama.  

Kagami looked at him. Truly looked at him. It felt like she was seeing him for the first time. She tried to imagine him in a skin-tight leather suit with cat ears and a tail. She could shrug off the physical similarities between them. So, what? They both had blond hair and green eyes. Maybe green eyes were rare but that didn’t mean Adrien was Chat Noir.  

No, what truly opened her eyes was that specific moment. Kagami was used to Adrien’s puns. They were terrible but they were a part of him and she truly loved her friend. She wouldn’t try to change him for being a dork. But seeing him clearly making one of his terrible puns with a very Chat-like grins on his face, making Nino laugh as Chloé facepalmed was... it was like a slap in the face.  

She was floored by the new suspicion that was growing inside of her.

And it was all Alya’s fault.  

“So,” Alya said with wide eyes and sly grin. “What do you think?”

“Kagami, please.” Marinette pleaded softly. “Please tell Alya she is making no sense. There is no way Adrien is Chat Noir. It’s impossible.” She sounded like she was talking to herself but both Alya and Kagami were so focused on each other that they missed it. “She is obsessed with this idea.”

“Because it makes perfect sense!” Alya defended herself. “Adrien is an athlete. He is already fast. And he is a fencer. His skill sets match Chat’s perfectly. Also, he is never around during an akuma attack.”

“Because he is a very busy person.” Marinette complained. “His father always freaks out when he’s around during an akuma attack. Also, didn’t Chat and Ladybug saved him once?”

Kagami turned her sharp eyes to her blond friend again. Adrien was walking toward their table as Chloé clearly complained about something before leaving their side to join Sabrina. She considered the possibility of Adrien being Chat Noir. She also considered her own interest in black clad hero. As Alya mentioned when she first came to her, she was watching a lot of Chat Noir videos on Ladyblog lately. After Chat Noir saving her from a Prospero themed akuma last month, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. There was something fascinating about Chat Noir. Maybe it was his fighting style. Too dangerous, too different and reckless for Kagami ‘always calm and in control’ Tsurugi. Maybe it was his stupid smile and his light-hearted attitude. Maybe it was his courage. Maybe it was the way he secured her against his chest as he covered her from akuma’s attack with his own body and looked at her with those wide cat eyes as he asked if she was alright.  

Well, even if it was just a suspicion, as a friend of his, it was her responsibility to protect his secret identity. No matter how cool Alya was, Kagami couldn’t trust her with this kind of information. Maybe Adrien wasn’t even the unlucky hero of Paris. Maybe they were all being silly. But she couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk Adrien’s life. She couldn’t risk Chat Noir’s safety.  

She turned to Alya with her best poker face and shrugged, trying to look apologetic.

“Sorry, Alya. I agree with Marinette. I can’t see it.” Marinette smiled at Kagami warmly, almost like she was thanking her for the support. Kagami didn’t understand why Marinette was so defensive about this. Maybe she didn’t like the idea of the boy she loved running around the city in a leather suit, risking his own life almost every day. She was clearly a very sensitive and caring person. She was probably worried about the young model.  

Alya pouted at her phone as Marinette grabbed her arm and pulled her on her feet. She waved at Kagami sweetly before thanking her.

“Thanks, Kagami. Sorry for your taking your time.” Kagami shrugged again.

“No problem. I wasn’t doing anything important.” She looked after them for a second. They were clearly discussing something that ended with Marinette facepalming and Alya waving her arms around. This brought a small smile to Kagami’s face. Both girls were so different from Kagami herself. Yet, they considered her a friend and accepted her right away when Adrien introduced her to his friends. She never felt a need to have so many friends before. She liked to be alone. But she was happy to be their friend.  

“Hey!” Kagami looked up and meet Adrien’s bright green eyes and smiling face.

“Hi.” She greeted back absent-mindedly.  

“What were you guys talking about?” He asked, sitting down next to her. She eyed him for a moment. Could it be? Could her friend be Chat Noir? Alya was right about Adrien never being around during an akuma attack. But Marinette was also right about Gabriel being a control freak. Alya was right about Adrien having the right skill sets to be Chat Noir, too. But what did this mean for them? For their friendship. Or Kagami’s own feelings. “Kagami?” Adrien was looking at him with worry in his wide eyes. She shook her head slightly and shrugged. These thoughts could wait until she was alone.  

“Nothing. It was nothing.”

[aion-rsa]

Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 8 Review: Hell Raisin’ Good Time

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This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers.

Wynonna Earp Season 4, Episode 8

Oh, to be a fly on the (probably Zoom) wall of the Wynona Earp writers’ room during the brainstorm session about which Halloween costumes each character should wear in this autumnal holiday-themed installment! Reader, they nailed it. Wynonna dresses as feminist hero Britney Spears (compliment of Waverly for both bringing the costume together and knowing that Wynonna would be into it), and Wonder Woman. Doc is bisexual icon Freddie Mercury. And Waverly… well, Waverly is a ladybug and then an angel. It’s all beyond perfect, and epitomizes just how much fun this slasher episode of Wynonna Earp truly is. (Barring the sob story Varun Saranga is strapped with selling, but we’ll get back to that later…) Two episodes, and Wynonna Earp Season 4B continues to be… just an incredibly good time? There is a time and place for Important Television, and Wynonna Earp sometimes ducks into that intersection, but I don’t think we talk enough as a culture about the importance of fun, especially in such dark and draining times. I didn’t know how much I needed more unabashedly fun TV until Wynonna Earp came back into our lives, welcoming us all back to the party. And, friends, more than a year into this pandemic, we are all overdue for a party.

This series has had Buffy the Vampire Slayer in its narrative DNA since the beginning, but never is it more apparent than in these delightful supernatural problem-of-the-week episodes. Last week, it was a love virus. This week, it’s a homicidal scarecrow with the head of a pumpkin, the hands of Freddy Krueger, and the focus of an Olympic athlete. Rotten Jack is his name and he’s been a rural myth in the town of Purgatory since the Earps were little kids, spending Halloween trying to avoid their abusive father. It says a lot about this town and the Earp family that an active supernatural killer on the loose is enough of a regular occurrence that literal angel Waverly attempts to eschew the responsibility of tracking him down because she has plans to hang out with her sister. But it’s hard to judge a grown woman so unabashedly wearing a ladybug costume, especially when she is so devoted to hr big sister. Maybe it’s low-hanging fruit for a reviewer and fan who is best friends with her own sister, but, for all of the other amazing relationships on this show, Wynonna Earp has always had the sibling bond between Wynonna and Waverly at its heart and it’s touching to see that, even when these two can’t remember their own names, they remember the love they have for one another.

Yes, that’s right. Waverly and Wynonna straight-up lose their memories. Wynonna may be able to remember whiskey, but she has no idea what Peacemaker is for. This is all thanks to Casey, who you may remember as Wynonna’s half-demon cellmate in “Look At Them Beans.” When Wynonna and Waverly go to Casey’s trailer, per Jeremy’s BBD instructions, in order to pick up “the extractor,” a necessary item for capturing Rotten Jack, Casey freaks out. He’s gone full conspiracy theorist off-the-grid-er since we last saw him (which, fair enough), and doesn’t want anything to do with BBD. He runs away from The Sisters Earp, leading them into the amnesia-inducing fog that apparently surrounds all of the Ghost River Triangle. What follows is basically a delightful excuse for Melanie Scrofano and Dominique Provost-Chalkley to get silly as Wynonna and Waverly traipse around town, in search of a Halloween party, with no idea that demons or vampires are even a thing or that they are supposed to be all that stands between Rotten Jack and the people of Purgatory.

Meanwhile, Amon has graduated from morally-ambiguous antagonist to straight-up villain. And I’m not just saying that because he tries to use the fact that he had sex with Wynonna to manipulate Doc into doing what he wants. (It doesn’t work.) In an effort to make some serious cash, Amon sets up a betting pool livestream around the identities of Rotten Jack’s victims, pivoting to auctioning off the chance to kill the Earp sisters when the opportunity presents itself. I wish this turn had a bit more nuance—I’ve never really been sure of who Amon is as a character or what Wynonna Earp was trying to do with him—but his commitment to villainy does provide structure for the rest of our characters to rail against. It gives Jeremy a chance to team up with Doc to save Wynonna and Waverly, and gives Doc a few instances to reiterate his commitment to the Earp sisters both through his actions and his words. He and Wynonna may not have worked things out, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t the love of his life.

Jeremy and Robin’s tragic backstory knocked this episode down a half-star for me. While I understand the necessity of recasting a role from time to time, I am 100% of the opinion that I would rather the series act as if they are the same human rather than come up with a face-tearing backstory that is both unnecessarily gruesome and too silly even for this show. We already suspend disbelief when it comes to the existence of vampires, demons, demon-hunters, angels, and Cupids on this show; what’s a little recasting amongst friends? Then again, I have always been willing to lean into a recast. Maybe it’s because I am a Doctor Who fan?

That being said, I am also very invested in the angst when it comes to Jeremy and Robin’s ongoing love story. They obviously still share a connection, even if Robin can’t remember their dating history and currently has a boyfriend who is not Jeremy. I am torn between the pull of the amnesia romance trope and the fact that Jeremy is basically slipping drugs into his ex/co-workers’ support group coffee. On the one hand, my fanfic-reading heart loves a good pining amnesiac exes-to-lovers story; on the other hand, it is deeply problematic that Jeremy isn’t giving Robin the option of taking the serum. Robin is an amnesiac; he’s not a child. (Not that you should drug your children’s coffee, either.)

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Additional thoughts.

Taking bets: do we think Amon is dead or will we see him again?

Everyone loves Doc, and it makes total logical sense.

Wynonna’s “walk of shame” look works better than it has any right to.

R.I.P., random Purgatory residents killed by Rotten Jack. I’m not sure what the town’s population looks like at this point, but the loss of three residents ain’t nothing.

“Can you just let me petty.”

“Are you late for school?” “Whore school?” The line delivery here.

“You’re supposed to be the nice one.”

“They say it’s hilarious, but you’ll never look at Dame Judi Dench again.”

“I already wear a mask everyday.” Still not clear on the logistics of Robin’s new face, but I honestly hope the show never tries to explain it.

Code Orange… for Halloween?

“I just want to go trick or treating.” It’s super interesting that, when Waverly and Wynonna lose their memories, it’s Wynonna who loves Halloween and Waverly who hates it. Presumably, this is how they really feel about the holiday.

Justin Kelly, aka the first Robin, is now on a show called Hudson & Rex, which seems to be a show about a cop and his police dog. (The new Robin is played by Jim Watson.)

“I think your boyfriend might be a cokehead.”

“p.s. Dance like no one’s watching.” Casey’s letter to “Wins and Waves.” <3

“I’m not a hero. A fuck up.” “You can be both.” I love how they just slipped the thesis statement for this show into the dialogue of this episode and hoped nobody would notice.

“Love is the absolute of fear.” “Love has always lightened the load.” If Doc ever needs a side hustle, he should consider motivational life coach. But, really, we need to talk about how sweet talk is one of Doc’s legit superpowers. Between his pep talk to Cleo last week and his pep talk to Casey this week, he’s on a roll.

“She’s my most important thing.” “Gross.”

“You were the best sister I ever had.” “How do I know?” “I know.”

Was this episode the best Wonder Woman movie of 2021? Yes or yep?

Doc helping Waverly off the stage?

“Oh my god, I had sex with Eiman.”

“You’re hilarious. We can’t even get the popcorn machine to work.”

This mind fog is spreading? This isn’t going to be good for the cat cafe…

S’mores!

“You are and have always been my hero.” “It’s easy when you know exactly what you’re fighting for.”

“Mind if I steal her for a minute?” “A minute? Woman, you better make her happy for the rest of her damned life.” Nicole didn’t get a lot of screen this episode, but boy does she make the most of it.

 Rotten Jack is played by Kelsey Andries, an actor and stunt performer. She does a very good and creepy job bringing this supernatural horror to life.

The post Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 8 Review: Hell Raisin’ Good Time appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[schlemicl]

“ALRIGHT, YOU’VE CONVINCED ME.”

It was a lack of patience he had with the Xantrophn, EACH time the spy would encounter the towering creature he always seemed to raise hell even for the littlest of things. Today, Out was done with it. He was making it a point to approach Damon on the determination to make their relationship finally beneficial to the both of them. Hopefully… that was if the belligerent would listen for a few minutes instead of pushing him against the wall demanding payment for no reason. Black eyes looked around the Detritus Ring, the dark shades of evening cascading down his strong cheekbones, revealing styled raven hair and scarred lips tilting up in a small genuine smile. Maybe he’d finally be able to convince the man, who he poured his life story to, to accept him. Out had notified Damon through HOLO messages to meet up at the local bar, well local for the beast, not for Unwanted who had to travel from his home at the Silver Bullet, over to the Rogues infamous hideout.

Though it didn’t bother the spy much, he was used to traveling, from late night to early mornings it seemed his duties were never done, including now. Spotting the pub, Out prepared to met the devilish man and in hope would conclude the tension of greed in the Xantrophn. Walking with a skip in his step, he would arrive at the doors, pale fingers reaching out to grasp the handle pulling it to him so he could enter. Almost instantly the quiet environment erupted with loud booming sounds, people dancing towards the middle and shady deals conjuring from all sides. To Out this was a regular area where his contracts were made or his own questionable deals went down. It was a place meant for people like him… thieves, blackmailers, and liars. In the comfort of a bar, they were all sinners. However, the Unwanted wasn’t here for that or them. He was there for himself and a potential ally. His thin form would weave around the others enjoying themselves for the night. Those who’d prefer to be drunk on the high life and face consequences later than see reality as it’s true torment. People who would steal away with strangers and pretend love was in red lipstick or a half-empty bottle of the bar’s finest liquor. They only hid their true identities, masked by the drinks and fame. Out knew their kind all too well and saw it on their faces as he passed by them. Behind painted smiles and false laughs, they were in pain and only sought an end to it.

Finally, the spy had made it to the counter, seeing the line of patrons along the marble surface, watching as drinks clashed, spilled and were drank by merry men. His gaze would pry off of them and over to the large creature that sat towards the middle of the group. Damon wasn’t hard to miss in a sea of people. With golden horns crowning his head and his equally wealthy gaze to send chills down any man’s spine, he could send anyone coiling with fear if given the chance. Out had seen it before, the rage such a beast possessed, the fury in his eyes as he challenges each opposer. The sharp black claws that protected his fingers or the long lethal tail that at the moment swayed behind him in contentment. Damon was made for war but the spy hoped to quell the bellicose warrior enough to befriend him. Out’s abyssal eyes would stay back for a minute watching, examining the Xantrophn and his body language. It was a tactic the Unwanted like to use when making deals with people. Staying back, learning how the other blended with different situations and trying to analyze what mood they were in at the time. This method worked for him on most occasions. Slowly, after the spy was done interpreting his target, he’d make his way closer to him. Coming up from behind a pale hand rose resting it against the dark furs of Damon’s cloak, the soft and cooling fabric made his nerves calm slightly.

At the feeling of someone touching the cloak, the Xantrophn turned to face whoever it was, slits thinning he saw the familiar face of a man who few knew. The spy of the UPR, the Unwanted, or to put it simply, Out. There were stories he’s heard of the fellow and his work, doing wonders for the UPR and helping those who needed it. Damon’s even heard personal stories that he, himself spoke. All resorting to the discomfort and abuse of a former father that had a lack of love. Not like the King minded, he’d sit there listening to Out pour his heart on the table, looking for any comfort that he could provide which amounted to very little. Damon didn’t mind hearing him out but he usually wasn’t one to comfort a broken man. After all, no one did for him, not when he needed it most. Aside from Kaia, who was there only for him during the end of his grieving. But now here they were in a bar for whatever reason the spy had in mind. “Hey there.” The Xantrophn spoke, leaning back in his chair, raising a hand in the air he began to dismiss the group of people he had been hanging out with. “Alright my date’s here, you fellas better go unless you want him to steal all your secrets.” It didn’t take long for them to spread out dispersing while all giving him a glare and giving their farewells to Damon. Soon it was just Out who began to seat himself next to the king. “You wanted to tell me something or did you just come here to cry again because look, I understand you and your sob story but I’m here to have a good time. If you wanna cry, go find a dark corner. I don’t want to be bothered by your depressing shit.” He took a swig of his drink, looking down at it with his wealthy gaze feeling the strong drink’s burn.

To Damon’s words, the spy could feel his lips lift in offense but not a word was spoken. Instead, he carefully shook his head, dark eyes glaring at the drink in Damon’s hand. ( Had he been drinking a lot? ) No matter it wasn’t his problem at least not at the moment. “Actually I wanted to talk to you about our relationship. I hop--” “Whoa, hold the HOLO right there, buddy.” Damon leans in, close enough that their nose would touch and the stench of alcohol could be smelt on his breath. Placing his drink to the side as a hand slithered to rest on the counter, black talons begin to drum across the counter. “I didn’t think you were the type to be so straightforward with these kinds of things but I’m sorry to tell you, I’m taken. Now, I get it, the sexy looks and amazing body can get anyone to sin but I for one am committed to my lover.” Damon leans closer, blue lips grazing Out’s cheek until they rest on his ear. “Go find another fish.” As if on instinct the spy pulled back, surprise in his expression. With quick thinking, he’d use his hands to push against the Xantrophn’s chest putting distance between them. “No! No. T-That’s not why I’m here.” Embarrassment flooded his cheeks, tinted pale white to a darker shade of red. “I’m not interested in being your lover… I was talking about our friendship. I want it to be serious. No insults, no payments, nothing to involve with just your benefit. I truly want to be friends…” His words were spoken with confidence, offering Damon a gentle smile. “I hope that you see that I don’t like being insulted or hated and I certainly don’t like it when you demand money from me. That’s not how people interact.”

Damon pulls back listening to the spy prattle on, feeling his own lips lift with amusement. He couldn’t help the teasing that he pulled, liking the expression on Out’s face from the stunt he did. “So you’re meaning to tell me you want to be close buds. Does shit together, ruins lives, yadda yadda?” A dark grey eyebrow rose in question, thinking about the Unwanted’s proposal. In a sense, they were like friends but more frienemies than anything. Golden eyes looked back into Out’s black ones humming. ( Where would he get the extra money from then? ) “Alright, you’ve convinced me, but what about the money you give me. I still need it and since I can’t beat your ass for it where else am I supposed to get it?” Damon spoke aloud hoping that the spy was still willing to help him and Kaia’s financial life. Large blue arms crossed, leaning back in his chair a hum left him.

Out nodded, knowing Damon wouldn’t just freely agree without the idea of having money involved. Silly Xantrophn didn’t he know that work brought money, not threats or demands. “You could always help me on my missions.” The spy spoke, adjusting his posture to come off as more professional. “How can I do that?” He could hear the Xantrophn’s smart remark scoff. “Well, I know you live in a restaurant with your lover and words travels fast from gossiping. Mind you those rumors can provide true or I can investigate them. In turn, you’ll be paid for what information you obtain weekly.” Pale fingers stretched out, hand extended to make the deal. “Does that sound good to you?” There was a moment's pause for Damon as he thought over Out’s deal, finding it to be reasonably good. Lips lifted in a smile, three fangs revealed as his own hand collides with Out’s harshly. “Yeah, you got yourself a deal, Mr. Out.”

[tamamatango]

saburo for the ask meme? he doesn't get enough love

(First of all I totally agree he deserves better)

Why I like them: Yknow despite the fact that he’s one of my Big Fave characters now I barely even noticed how good Saburo was until I started getting really attached to Kururu, but like, he’s a very intriguing character. I like that he’s really chill and free-spirited, and that despite his high intellect he’s too unserious to really use it. He’s got this rebel air about him and kind just takes part in whatever weird stuff interests him and takes risks or causes mischief for the thrill of it. He’s also one of those “kind-hearted but has a massive ego” type characters, always thought that was endearing. Idk, he just has a lot of traits I really like. He reminds me of Sonic for some reason lmao

Why I don’t: I do feel like he was very much underutilized in the anime. They just didn’t really take enough of his manga personality and made him into more of a typical nice bishonen kinda guy. He has the potential to be super interesting and they just didn’t take advantage of it cuz they wanted to make weird love triangle jokes instead. I mean I love him anyway and he’s got his moments for sure but I am still disappointed. Also Funi dub made him too much of a jerk.

Favorite episode and/or movie scene: 229b and 112 once again……and that one part in movie 3, yeah you know what I’m talking about. Oh yeah gotta love how unnecessarily dramatic his break-in in episode 9 was also. Damn obligatory NGE reference

Favorite season and/or movie: Saburo didn’t get to do shit until later really; even though he had good parts in seasons 3 and 5 I think season 7 was when they finally started working with him more (was a little late at that point though). And again, movie 3.

Favorite line: “Splendid world trip” because I still have no fucking clue what that even means and it’s funny because he was totally being fake deep. And it was the last line any character besides the narrator ever said in the whole show which makes it funnier.

Favorite outfit: All. He’s stylish

OTP: Another character I don’t really ship with anyone. He’s too much of a wanderer, I feel like he’s not ready to be grounded by a serious relationship. Also I like to think he’s not as cool and attractive as the anime makes him out to be he’s just a dork who THINKS he’s cool.

BroTP: This should be extremely blatantly obvious if this isn’t the first post you’ve ever seen from me but yeah, Kururu. (Besides that though Saburo and Dororo interacted quite a bit in the manga and tbh I would like to see more of that, they get along quite well)

Headcanon: Very silly one but I like to think he has a secret fear of snakes and Kururu is 100% holding this over his head as potential blackmail. I don’t even know where this came from but I’m rolling with it.

Unpopular opinion: Why couldn’t the anime just name him Saburo Hojo instead of making everything more convoluted by just not giving him a last name like they could still do the “Mutsumi is his secret identity” thing it wouldn’t have been that hard. On the subject of Mutsumi even though I like him better in the manga I default to Saburo because I started with the anime What Is Logic

A wish: I know there’s like a .00001% chance they’re gonna re-reboot or continue the 2004 anime but just let him do more than be Natsumi Love Interest blease. I need more moments with him and his frog. Also since his backstory’s in the manga now I’d like to see that adapted in animeverse somehow

An oh-god-please-don’t-ever-happen: Him pulling another dumb stunt like in 229 and actually getting hurt I would be sad.

5 words to best describe them: Weirdo kickflips into the sun

My nickname for them: I have a few actually…“I Still Relevant”, which started as another inside joke cuz my stream friends and I thought it was funny that he appears for like 15 seconds in some episodes and then Leaves“Saporo” because the Animax dub calls him that for whatever reason and also his voice there is it’s pretty bad“Cartoon Zac Efron” which is another dumb inside joke that changed my life

In conclusion: *Rides a motorcycle into the sunset while dubstep plays in the background*